UPDATED Today’s AMI QT Devotional, provided by Pastor David Kwon who heads Journey Community Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, was first posted on June 1, 2014.  He is a graduate of Drexel University (BS) and Columbia International University (M.Div.).

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

“A Life of Holiness”

1 Peter 1:13-16 

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. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

The word “holiness” sounds so archaic and so irrelevant in our “anything goes” world.  But, if you dismiss it, you do so at your own peril, for a life of unholiness is not without consequences. 

So then, how should the holiness of God affect our daily lives?  Peter writes in his letter that we, who are in Christ, should strive to be holy in all of our conduct.  Our lifestyle is not to conform to the base desires that formerly dominated us and kept us from God; rather, believers should control our desires rather than to be controlled by them. Before Christ we were in ignorance, but now, because of the grace that brought us to the revelation of Jesus, we have come to know God and his will.

Verse 13 begins with “therefore,” thus connecting what Peter has addressed in verses 1-12:  that is, the great salvation we have received.  Because of this salvation, we now should set our “hope fully on the grace to be brought.”  Peter states, first, that the conduct should be holy, and then since we have been sanctified by the Spirit (1:2), we should live this set apart life.  Both “sanctified” and “holy” come from the same Greek root, having to do with a life set apart.  Our holiness is derived from our calling: God has called us to be holy, “as he is holy.”  

What are some areas that God is calling you to be more holy?  Maybe it’s sexual purity, love for others, pride, desire for material things, etc.  Surrender whatever it might be to the Lord, and ask that he would make you more holy in that area of your life.  

Prayer: Dear God, I pray that You would give me the purity of heart and mind as I desire to become more like your Son Jesus.  Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Ezekiel 34-35