Blog # 402 Growing in Holiness

Blog  # 402  Growing in Holiness

               In the first letter to the Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 3. Paul writes: "It is the will of God that  you grow in holiness." I wonder what we would have on paper if we would sit down for just five minutes and write out what comes to our minds in response to these words of Paul.

              What do we mean by holiness?  How do we grow in holiness?  Does it occur like old age. We grow in age whether we like it or not.  Did you ever decide to grow in holiness? What did you do
about it?  These are some of the interesting questions the statement of Paul suggests.

               I imagine many people go back and forth to church each week for years on end without much thought as to what holiness means and how they as an individual could grow in holiness.  In a City like Cincinnati, where I live, what is the difference between a person who is holy and a person who is not holy?   Some of us go to church and some of us do not.  Is that the main difference between being holy and not being holy? 

              As far as can be observed, the rest of our lives outside of church attendance is pretty much the same for many of  us.  We care for our lawns, pay our bills on time, show up at work each day, and though our address might be on Jefferson Street or Manchester, our lives look pretty much the same from the outside. If this be the case, it could be that all of us are holly or none of us is holy. But it seems further that unless we are changing in some way we are hardly growing in holiness. 

           "It is the will of God that you grow in holiness "  May the Lord direct our minds to know Him better and our hearts to love Him more.