Be
holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy. (Leviticus 19:2)
I
used to dread this verse as an impossible command, a requirement with which I
could not comply. No matter how good my intentions or committed my effort, it
never achieved the desired result. As C. S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity, “No man knows how bad
he is till he has tried very hard to be good.” [1] The more I tried to change
my behavior, the more frustrated I became. My efforts seemed doomed to failure.
New
Testament scholar Paul Achtemeier writes of Romans 7:15 (…what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.): “What Paul describes in these verses
therefore is the dilemma of all human beings who seek to follow God’s will
apart from Christ.” [2] This is my experience when trying to conform to
Scripture relying only on my own strength.
In
his book Rebuilding the Real
You, Pastor Jack Hayford invites us to receive this verse as a
promise, rather than a threat. He illustrates how a child may inherit a
receding hairline, big feet, or a cleft chin, from a parent. God is our parent,
and God is holy. Holiness is in God’s DNA (so to speak). As his children, that
DNA is our inheritance. [3] We don’t have to scuffle and scheme to be holy; we
simply have to receive what, because of our parentage, is rightfully ours.
Do you
look like your Father?
[1]
C. S. Lewis. Mere Christianity (New
York: Harper Collins, 1952).
[2]
Paul J. Achetmeier. Romans. “Interpretation
– A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville: Westminster John
Knox, 2010.
[3]
Jack Hayford. Rebuilding the Real You. rev.
ed. (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House,
2009).
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