The Relief of Holiness

By: John Eldredge

I recently read the following devotional from John Eldredge. I love how he correlates holiness with a liberating freedom, instead of just a static gift or a state of being. What a relief it is indeed when we give God all and allow him to work in and through us as he wishes!

“May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together – spirit, soul, and body…The one who called you is completely dependable.” (1 Thess. 5:23-24, The Message)

The hope of Christianity is that you get to live life like Jesus. That beautiful goodness can be yours. He can heal what has gone wrong deep inside you. The way he does this is to give you his goodness; impart it to you, almost like a blood transfusion. You get to live his life – that is, live each day by the power of his life within you. He makes you whole by making you holy. He makes you holy by making you whole. Friend, the pursuit of a deep and genuine holiness is worth whatever it costs you.

Think of how you feel when you commit some offense – yell at your kids, harbor resentment or bitterness toward a friend. Whatever your regrets may be, think of how you feel when you commit these acts repeatedly, when you vow never to do it again and find yourself doing it moments later. And think of what an utter relief it would be to be free from the whole entangled nightmare. I mean to be so free that you simply don’t struggle with whatever it is that haunts you; it’s not an issue.

That’s the utter relief of holiness. That’s what happens when the life of Jesus invades your life.

Jesus, give me your holiness. Invade my life, my every breath. I ask you to come.