ATTAINING HOLINESS

I'm certainly sure you reading this understands the obvious concept of sowing and reaping. And I'm twice sure it has happened to you, one way or another.

It's no new thing to you when I say "whatever you sow, you will also reap". It's not just a philosophy, it's not just karma, it's also the Word of God.

Delving deeper and comparing it with attaining Holiness, let's look at a popular scripture.

"Do not be be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man does, that he will also reap". (Galatians 6:7).

It is known by this truth and people's experiences that you can't reap where you didn't sow. You can't get a return of something you never invested in.

It's a simple law of life. A farmer can't harvest fruits at the end of a season without planting seeds of that fruit prior to that harvesting season.

That farmer will be seen as a joke expecting such.

And just like that, you can never reap anything when you sow nothing or reap something else when you sowed a different seed.

This is also the reason you just can't live holy. You may ask, "What's the correlation between the sowing and reaping concept and holiness"?

Let's look at the preceding verse of the earlier quoted scripture;

"For he who does to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who does to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." (Galatians 6:8).

It's clear now, right?

You cannot live holy because you're sowing wrong seeds. You're definitely sowing seeds but the issue is, you're not sowing right.

You're Christian and you ask yourself why you're not growing in holiness. You see other Christians leaving an admirable lifestyle with great integrity and purity and you wonder why your case is different. Or you feel attaining holiness and sanctification is difficult and straining to attain.

It's obvious that you've so much placed emphasis and value on your flesh more than your spirit man. The fleshly man is taking all the attention, investment, time and care.

When I talk of the flesh now, I'm not just talking of the body in a literal sense, I'm talking about its lustful cravings.

1 John 2:16 points out something profound every believer should be mindful of... The lust of their flesh! It reveals that whoever loves the flesh and the world more than God has not the love of the Father in him.

Satisfying the flesh in its sinful cravings is like sowing seeds in it. And as Galatians reveals, you will surely reap corruption.

This is the reason you find traces of corruption in you. This is why christians are living corrupt lives...they are sowing in their flesh daily.

No wonder Jesus said something many Christians run away from. "If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. (Matthew 24:16).

These three phrases (deny yourself, take up your cross, follow Him) are topics of its own that needs deeper teaching. That will be for another article.

Understand that you definitely can't be so full of your SELF and SELFISH DESIRES and be holy at the same time. It can't happen!

Holiness is all about sanctification, purity, wholesomeness in spirit, soul and body. It's about being set apart for the Master's use.

You have to be separate from this world and its engagements. You have to deny yourself and the world its deadly pleasures, trends, philosophies, ideologies and activities to stand out pure.

Living in the world doesn't license you to follow it. The devil is still the god of this world. And so long he remain in that position (until Jesus comes), you have to be vigilant, sober and careful of what you do and how you relate with those here. (1 Peter 5:8, 2 Corinthians 6:14).

Don't be amongst those that practice shallow Christianity (partially in Christ and partially in the world) (Matthew 6:24). Choose this day who you shall serve whole heartedly; with ALL your heart, not half-heartedly. (Joshua 24:15).

I'll end it here for now.

I've just realized that I can't exhaust all the knowledge in one blog post. Holiness is obviously a very broad topic and as a result, we'll continue with it next week. We'll learn how to attain holiness next week as the Spirit teaches.

Stay tuned.

God bless you.

Comments

MY DEADLY FRIEND

I had this friend I never knew was a foe till I understood its deadly traits. The worst part?? I feed it myself unknowingly. Imagine feeding what kills you slowly. No, it's not an external being or thing but comes from within. And no, it's not personal to me but a generic problem amongst millions of people out there. Comparison! Yes, comparison! It shows itself through three different forms : Emotions , c ommunication and Identity . You would agree with me that these forms can also be components that constitute friendship. This is to elaborate how comparison poses as a friend while stating its significant harm. THE EMOTIONS INVOLVED Some people think of comparison as a tool for growth. I mean, if other people's success and progress can keep you awake and thinking all the time, then you would want to do better. That's what you think, right? Comparison would surely give you a lot of motivational lines like: "If my friend can do this, i can do i...

WHEN PURPOSE DOESN'T LOOK POPULAR

One of the basic need of humans is to be seen. The need to be wanted, accepted and approved by others. And in our world today, where visibility and popularity often connotes value, walking in the light of purpose can feel lonely and somewhat insignificant. It seems like everyone is moving faster, shining brighter, and getting noticed. On the other hand, you who seek to live in obedience to God's instruction per time don't draw attention. Your purpose looks slow, hidden, or even strange to others. What happens then? The truth is, God’s purpose for your life won’t always look popular. Sometimes, He calls you to build when no one else understands what you’re building. He calls you to walk a path that doesn’t make sense to the crowd. That's not really comforting, right? But understand that there's a difference between living for purpose and living for popularity. Purpose is about fulfilling God’s assignment for your life. It’s about obedience, faith, and surrender. Wheth...

HOW TO BUILD CONFIDENCE WITHOUT LOSING HUMILITY

You know, I truly love the virtue called humility and sincerely admire humble people. But you see folks that are extremely humble yet unapologetically confident — this, I can never resist. I could't help but wonder how they strike the balance until recently. You can see humility yet confidence is an aura they exude. I had to research on it and I discovered the "how-to" behind this amazing twist which I'll be unfolding here. First off, let's understand this: T here is a thin line between confidence and pride. It takes some level of mastery to avoid breaking that line. Have you ever tried to be confident but felt like you were being “too much”? Maybe you spoke up during a meeting, posted your small win online, or walked into a room with your head held high, then immediately wondered if you came off as proud. It’s something many struggle with: wanting to believe in themselves without seeming arrogant. Society often makes it worse by mixing up humility with self-dou...

SHUT THAT WINDOW

There are reasons the windows of your house is meant to be shut, even if not completely. There should be limited access into the house. It helps prevent unwanted things from creeping into the house. In as much as the window was created to allow the reflection of the brightness of the day into the house and for ventilation, it must be closed to an extent, to avoid insects and unwanted substances intruding the house. In this context however, the windows that needs to be shut are the windows that leads to your heart. Your heart (physically and spiritually) are as important as the air you breathe, because the heart is the seat of core activities that keeps you alive and also moulds your life. Physically, your heart is the muscle at the centre of your circulation system. It pumps blood around your body as your heart beats. This blood sends oxygen and nutrients to all parts of your body, and carries away unwanted carbon dioxide and waste products. Literally speaking, you can'...

NAKED BEHIND THE TREES

It didn't take long before they realized what had happened after they had their first bite. " I'm naked, I don't want anyone especially God to see me like this. He may condemn, criticize or judge me." Those were probably the thoughts of Adam and his wife after they disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit. Upon realization of their nakedness, their instinct quickly suggested they sew fig leaves together to cover themselves up. And as if that wasn't enough, they hid themselves behind the trees in fear and hunger for security, hoping the trunk of the trees and leaves would give the proper covering they wanted. "...and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden." (Genesis 3:8). In that state of guilt, many are like Adam and Eve. They hide behind trees as a result of their nakedness well known to them. Now, let's look at the significance of NAKEDNESS and TREES . NAKEDNESS in th...

KEPT AWAY FROM GOD, YET UNNOTICED

If the devil wants to pull you away from God, he wouldn't need to show up with horns and fire neither would he come to you with outright denial. No, that's too obvious. He’d be subtle, clever, and quiet. He’d use everyday life. He’d twist the good into distractions, and sin into freedom. He wouldn’t scare you — he’d SOOTHE YOU into separation from God in a way that seems harmless on the outside but destroying you from inside out. And you know what subtle individuals do: they cook up a well planned scheme, waits for your weakest moments and strike! We have to be conscious of the devil's devices and how he'll use it to slowly but effectively take us away from God. (2 Corinthians 2:11) 1. Comfort Over Conviction You are kept satisfied and comfortable so that you think you don't need God. You get the job, the contract deals, the house, the relationship — life feels stable. Suddenly, prayer becomes optional. Church becomes your rarest go-to. You’re not against God, qui...

KEEPING THE HEDGE

We live in a world where evil and darkness lurks on every corner; where the devil is tagged the god of this world. The Christians, however, are present here as a Light to distort the works of darkness and captivate lives through the Light of Christ hence translating those in darkness from the agenda of Satan to the plan and will of God for man. I assure you even as it is clear to you reading this article that Satan the devil stops at nothing to frustrate God's children; those who has this Light. Everyone with the seal of redemption is the devil's enemy. He tries to take us down as to quench the Light that's a threat to his mission. That is why you as a Christian need the HEDGE. What hedge exactly? First off, I want you to know this. A hedge built around something especially a very important property is built to protect it from impending attacks and threatening conditions. It is built to keep a threatening enemy from intruding and invading it. A hedge is always b...

YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH

Times will come in your life when you feel you're not good enough. It happens a lot. But the issue isn't the feeling itself but how you handle it. As you journey through life, it is pertinent you do so with your sanity and your head held up high. High in confidence of all God has placed in you (believing in yourself) and more importantly, having a high voltage of confidence in God that sparks off tremendous results in and through your life. Why? Because without it, life will smash you like a ball of potatoes. The world was created as a social place and we created as social creatures was put there by God. Now, if you don't master the art of understanding your self worth in this social world, where you see a whole lot of people around you doing so well in a field, specialty or portraying certain attributes, depression will invade your life. WHY YOU FEEL YOU AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH That feeling doesn't just come on its own. When you start feeling worthless an...

HOW POSSIBLE IS PURITY IN A PERVERSE WORLD?

We live in a world where premarital sex, lust, and diverse sexual vices are thrown at us on the face. Sensual pictures, movies and music that promotes and instigates pornography, masturbation, lesbianism, homosexuality, adultery, rape, lust, etc are rampant, virtually everywhere. It takes advance discipline and utmost reverend for God to be able to resist it. When you access the internet, its there. When you read through some magazines, its there. What about the television compiled with various TV channels with different commercials, ads, movies, operas, shows, etc, it is in its abundance. These days, almost everything we view promotes lust. Even ads; mere ads. Those that value their christian faith and purity can't even watch television in peace. You'll have to keep changing and switching channels to guide your eyes against scenes that defiles the mind. Even the streets are cluttered with immodestly dressed women and men. They are on every sidewalk and every corne...

NOT JUST THE REGULAR CHRISTIAN

"I'm a very good Christian...a born again Christian at that." "I'm not just a regular Christian because I always go to church and partake in Christian activities." ...and you think that's enough reason to tag you a Christian beyond the ordinary? Please, before thinking you don't fall under the category of a regular Christian, I'd love you to read this article to the end with understanding. In many nations of the world, especially my resident country, Nigeria, many families and individuals acknowledge and believes in Christ which makes them Christians in a literal sense. It may be because it's a "religion" passed down as a family heritage or an influence from family members. It may be because of christain social influences and networks. It can be exposure to christianity through education or basically for selfish motives (what they can benefit from God). Not all Christians are TRULY Christians in its true context. We ind...

GROWING RIGHT

Search This Blog