Recently I read 2 Corinthians 7:1. "Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."
I have a "holiness" background. My great-grandmother was a member of the Church of God Holiness. It is a small church in my hometown. I had my introduction to holiness at a young age. As I grew in faith I continued to think about holiness. Frankly my initial ideas of holiness seemed to move in the direction of "don't do that". Holiness was also associated with simplicity and other Christian practices that were considered holy.
I have always struggled to communicate holiness. It is not taking all the things you enjoy and calling them bad. It is not only external. As a matter of fact we sometimes define holiness by referring to holiness of heart and life; inner and outward holiness.
Recently I had a thought that was inspired by the 2 Corinthians text.
Think of a windshield. When the window is clear and clean you can see in and out clearly. When the windshield gets dirty or scummy clarity is compromised.
Compare this to our soul and thoughts of holiness. When we are clear in our commitment and clean in our lives we can see in and out clearly. In other words this sort of clarity lets Jesus be seen clearly in our life. - Inner holiness. By the same token when we have this clarity we are able to see God in other people and at work in the world with clarity. - Outward holiness.
A clean heart will let others see Jesus in you and let you see Jesus in others. I think this is a way holiness works.
It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too.
steve
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