A Holy Awareness - Set Apart

I remember when I first got saved, running hard after God. I thought if I could have one thing in the world, it was holiness. Maybe it sounds to you like it did to me: Intently focused on God. Super-spiritual, even. But looking back, I actually think what I wanted was to be perfect.

I finally realized this: The only reason I wanted to be a perfectionist was that I detested my own failure. But I didn’t hate sin and weakness in me because it grieved God; I hated it because I thought I was better than that. It was a chip in my façade, a chink in my armor. I didn’t hate sin because I loved God; I hated sin because I loved myself. I loved my own achievement, my own goodness, my own…righteousness.

Maybe you’re wondering: Is there anything wrong with wanting to be perfect? Doesn’t God say to “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”? Shouldn’t we have zero tolerance for our weakness and sin? But you see, my craving to be unchained from weakness was cleverly cloaked in the right lingo of “holiness.” And the god of my quest was myself. Insecurity seeped out around my failures. It leaked out when I didn’t meet my standard. Pride and insecurity are actually the same sin. Both place my sense of value or lack thereof in my ability to achieve my goals on my own. When I don’t meet my standards, I feel inferior and insecure. When I’m meeting my standards? I’m on top of the world…and likely feeling a bit superior. Neither pride nor insecurity is based on God’s acceptance of me or His value of me, apart from what I bring to the table.

Now, I have started to see holiness less as being free of wrong and weakness. I no longer believe that it strictly lies in the perfection of my outward behavior.

There are only two kinds of beliefs: those that teach you to obey in order to be accepted; and those that teach that you obey because you are accepted. Everywhere in the Bible, God confronts attempts at self-salvation. Jesus earned my verdict. He says I’m accepted. I’m cleared. The verdict leads to performance. The performance does not lead to the verdict. When I accept Jesus’ verdict of “innocent” for me, God says to me what He did for Jesus: “This is my beloved daughter, in whom I am well pleased.”

Instead of being motivated by fear of failure, weakness, not being accepted…holiness is now motivated by faith that I am unconditionally, overwhelmingly loved, accepted, and thankfully NOT in control. It means I’m no longer trying to save myself. Instead, I’m allowing God to save me. My holiness flows from acceptance rather than insecurity.

Rather than strict control of my outward performance, holiness now feels like an act of worship, a jealousy for my life to be only His. True holiness, I think, has God as its source and object; perfectionism has myself as its source and object. You could say my behavior now emerges (Yes, through self-discipline) from a genuine love for God, rather than a feverish clawing for His acceptance.

This means that when I messed up…snapping at someone, say, one of my coworkers...I don’t have to be devastated because I acted like a “bad team player”, or because I behaved in a way inconsistent with my good character. If my mouth speaks out of the overflow of my heart (Matthew 12:34), I need to acknowledge what I did, repent and confess to my coworker without trying to blame-shift or deny or justify my tactless speech. I can ask her forgiveness. Then, I can sleep at night knowing that God’s changing me from the inside out. And my worth still remains super-glued to Jesus’ verdict of me in God’s courtroom.

Honestly, His performance is a lot more reliable than mine. My ability to achieve seems to melt away in the presence of that kind of perfection. Ultimately, I’m less and less focused on me and my rather sketchy performance. Holiness is, in fact, an utter reliance on performance…on perfection. Just “not” mine. So stop being perfect and start being holy.