"But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.'” - 1 Peter 1:15-16
Wow what does it even mean to be holy? How can we be holy as people who are by nature sinful? But God directs to be holy which means it can't be impossible.
I love 1 Peter so far. Thanks to Beau Hughes from the Village Church in Texas for helping me see the big picture of the letter. We're different from non-Christians. Instead of focusing on what they think of us, we need to just focus on God and what he's done for us. I think the more we focus on Jesus, the less we'll care what people will think. Of course that doesn't mean we can shove our views down their throats. Like I said in my last post, we of course need to be loving, gentle and respectful to all people at all times. But we likely won't agree with the world and we're going to be weird for it.
I like what Beau says:
"As you put your hope totally on Jesus and who he is and what he's done and what he's going to do when he returns, it's going to transform us. It's going to conform us and make us more like God. In making us more like God, that is going to empower us as Christians to persevere and to flourish, even in the midst of persecution. Beyond that, it's actually going to empower us as Christians to be a blessing to the very ones who are persecuting us." - Beau Hughes
Beautiful.
Another quote so beautifully said is this one by Tullian Tchividjian:
"Christians make a difference in the world by being different from this world; they don't make a difference by being the same. We need to remember that God has established his church as an alternative society, not to compete with or copy this world, but to offer a refreshing alternative to it. When we [as a church] forget this, we inadvertently communicate [to the world and] to our culture that we have nothing [as God's people] unique to offer, nothing deeply spiritual or profoundly transforming. Tragically, this leaves many in our world looking elsewhere for the difference they crave." - Tullian Tchividjian
People want different. Why? Because somehow we all know the world is messed up. How many times have non-Christians mentioned they have no faith left in humanity? So many. Many people are impressed with Jesus, just not his followers. I don't blame them! The reality is that either we're not living as we're called to (like Jesus) OR people are expecting us to be perfect when that's impossible since we're still sinful by nature.
But we should be progressing. We should be more like Jesus each day. Maybe we won't see the changes until a few years down the road, but they should be there.
So like yesterday's sermon based on 1 Peter, today's sermon and message are very similar. As Christians we need to focus on Jesus and what God's done for us. We need to be different from the world. We need to love those around us. We too were once lost but we are found.
Honesty I'm not sure if I feel closer to God after listening to sermons and writing about it. I know I've learned from the Bible and I feel I understand 1 Peter better than if I just read it on my own. The message of the book is good but nothing new. But maybe I don't need new. Maybe I need a good reminder. But no matter how I spend my time with God, I want to be in a place where there is such intimacy. I want to hear his voice clearly. I want more. I am glad I am learning but I am looking for more. Only 2 more sermons to go in this mini-series. After those are up, who knows how I'll spend my hour. All I know is that I want to feel God's presence and just be.
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