Holiness

I collect “daffynitions” because I enjoy their humor. They remind me of the time when I was a kid seeing a door sign that said “office.” As I sounded out the word in my mind, I saw “off ice” and wondered whether the room was colder or warmer than an ice house.
For a long page of daffynitions, listed under the Humor tab on the North Texas Christian Writers website, Click Here.
Recently, I entered a new daffynition: Holiness — A characteristic of sponges and spider webs.
But what is “holiness,” really? Whatever it is, it must be important, because it’s among God’s commands: “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2 NIV).
Many people think of holiness as some kind of special, elevated glory. Others think it means we don’t sin as much as most people do. To “be holy as God is holy” invites us to be different from the world, just as he is.
To be holy means a significant departure from the world’s philosophy, which is self-seeking. We learn to care for others more than ourselves.
When Jesus encourages us to “turn the other check” and be struck again or to “go the second mile” when even the first mile was an imposition, he is asking us to quit our self-serving actions and be more like God, showing love and mercy even to those who hate and would harm us.
Evidently, holiness means more than calling ourselves Christian. Since Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9), shouldn’t being more Christ-like be evidence of holiness?