Clean

To be clean. To be holy. This is the goal of our lives. To be clean and holy means something different to all of us. Most of us, in my humble opinion, think that being clean and holy is all about some list of do and do nots that we must keep. Do go to church. Don't go to the R rated movie. Do read your Bible everyday. Don't curse. Do listen to only Christian music. Don't listen to "secular music." (Whatever that is) We think that if we keep this list of rules that someday we will be clean and holy. We think that it is somehow our ourward actions will make us holy and clean, but we never really change the inside of our lives. I think that to truly be clean and holy we need to listen to these words:

Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing. Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, Here's what you do: Say nothing evil or hurtful; Snub evil and cultivate good; run after peace for all you're worth. God looks on all this with approval, listening and responding well to what he's asked; But he turns his back on those who do evil things.
If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath.

I Peter 3:8-18

We all want to oppose things that we think are evil and we somehow think this will make us more holy. However, it is a matter of the attitude of the heart as to how holy we are. We all keep our "list" of things that make us more holy than the next person, but few of us live a life that is lived out of love and doing good. We find it hard to be humble, compassionate, agreeable, and kind. We like to keep our list of right and wrong and measure, compare, ourselves with others. We think this is the measure of holiness.

The true measure of holiness is the attitude in which with live life. This attitude comes from our beliefs about life, our nature, and our hearts. Today take your focus off certain behaviors and stop seeing yourself as "righteous" or not based on questions like "did I read my Bible today?," "am I listening to the right kind of music?," or "I should not have see that movie this weekend." these are good things to be asking. Doing or not doing these things does have an affect on our lives. These things do affect the way that we view life, the passion we live it with, and our attitude, but they have nothing to do with how holy we are. We do things like this to change our attitude and beliefs about life, but they do not make us clean. What makes us clean is living a life of love, compassion, humility, kindness, and service. Living in the way of Jesus. People may want to tell you this is not the way to live, but be ready to have an answer that living the way of Jesus is the best way to live!

Namaste'