Called to Be Holy

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." 

-1 Peter 1:13-16

This blog post is a little break from "Breaking Free" by Beth Moore because God is doing so much in my heart that I just need this time to process a bit before moving on. Sorry if this seems like word-vomit.

The Lord has been revealing hugely how much sin spews out of me each and everyday. As I decided to read in 1 Peter today, I just felt so convicted. I am called to be holy. I am called to show Christ in EVERYTHING I do. I am called to PREPARE my mind to be able to live out Christ's holiness through His strength. I am called to set my hope fully on God's grace. I am called to break free of ignorance I once had of God's mercies, blessings, commands, and His wrath. God has called me to be His child and because of that, I am PRIVILEGED to experience His holiness. So how do I truly handle this privilege?

I definitely do not show Christ in everything I do. I get frustrated about stupid things and instead of showing the kind of grace towards others that God shows me, I let people know my frustration. It is so hard for me to show love to certain people after being hurt by them or being lied to by them. This is not showing grace and forgiveness to them like Luke 6:36-37 commands me to. "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven." God, why is my heart so hard? I suck. I also fail so many times to actually prepare my heart and mind to see reality of situations but also trust the Lord has it all under control. I get so used to handling life like I have for the past 22 years that I forget to truly take time to process it. I spend time in prayer but am I truly focusing on using it to prepare my heart for the battle I have set before me? Not all the time. "Do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance." There obviously was the time when I knew nothing about God--in fact, most of my life I knew nothing about God due to not growing up in a church. I knew nothing of His grace, nothing of His healing hands, nothing of His perfect promises, nothing of His deep uncomprehending love. I also knew nothing about the enemy and his grip on my life. I knew nothing about the devil's schemes and his lies that kept me from even desiring to know anything about the God I so deeply treasure now. I have learned so much about the One, True God that has saved me out of the pit and saves me from my flesh everyday. However, I still conform to fleshly passions that I learned so well for the past 22 years. God does not want me in these chains. He wants to bless my life and use my hands, feet, and even my ugly heart for His glory alone. God wants me to be holy because He is holy. God desires to break my heart for the sin in my life that hurts Him too often. God desires to heal brokenness in my life and my relationships with others. He wants to break down these walls I have built up for years using special people in my life to bring my focus back to Him alone.

God, You are so good to me and I just throw it back in Your face. Help. Help me use Your strength and not my own. Help my heart to be convicted each time I live in a moment that is not of You. Help me to see the blessings You are trying to give me and help me to trust that they are from You. Lord, I feel You wanting to do so much through this broken soul to show others how badly we need Your grace. Use my hands and my feet for Your Kingdom alone. Lord, help me to share my heart more openly with those You have brought into my life. You have brought them for a reason and I want to be able to take Your blessings with a heart of gratitude. Lord, You know my desires and I trust that what You are doing in life right now is to fulfill those desires that are of You. I do not want these chains anymore. I do not want to live selfishly, blinded from Your goodness. This is my cry out to You and You alone. I'm broken and I thank You.