What is your motivation for pursuing holiness? When it comes down to it, what is motivating you to kill sin and live a life that is set apart to God? It’s easy to talk about holiness, but in reality, it is tough work to pursue it.

Recently, I read Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas. Phenomenal book. The biggest takeaway in the book for me was the idea that the motivation for good parenting must come from outside of ourselves. In 1 Corinthians 7:1, Paul says, “…Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” That is the key for Paul. “Perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” Thomas makes the point in his book that when it comes to parenting, we must parent our children toward holiness because of who God is and what He’s done.

This concept is bigger than parenting. The call to holiness extends to every area of our lives. If our motivation is not God, then we will tend towards behavior modification rather than heart transformation. I will base my behavior on the response of those around me…

If my wife doesn’t appreciate how I serve her, then I won’t. If people don’t notice how I’m growing and maturing in my faith, then I’ll lose steam and give up. But if a reverence for God is motivating me, then it does not matter how others respond. I will live in a way that is in line with God’s desires because it is His will that I do so.

The question I’m wrestling with… Am I seeing God as I should? The only appropriate response then is a deep reverence that leads to a life of pursuing holiness. If I am apathetic about my sin, then I am likely being motivated by something less.