God calls us men to live holy lives. Yet have you ever attempted to obey this command to holiness, and commit to change your behavior, only to fail a few days later? The problem I think is that we're starting at the wrong place.
Our worldly actions flow from sinful thoughts and attitudes, like greed, jealousy, revenge, selfishness, anger, resentment, self centeredness, and unforgiveness. The good thing is these can be changed only as our mind is renewed by the Holy Spirit.
When we spend time each day in depth with the Daily Readings, the Spirit transforms our mind and strengthens our inner being and thus our way of living. But when we neglect nurturing our spirituality, we leave ourselves open to the influence of the world and our natural human way of thinking, both of which oppose godliness.
Then, if we try to change our behavior without adjusting our thinking, we'll find ourselves doing precisely what we want to avoid (Rom. 7:15).
Living in holiness, on the other hand, encompasses our entire being, which is why Jesus said we should love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength (Mark 12:30).
Our lives, yours and mine, are a work in progress. It's a process that takes time learning God's thoughts and transforming them as our own. But don't beat yourself up when you fail, just get back up and keep going. Then, as the Spirit develops inside of us a little each day with the mind of Christ, our actions will become increasingly holy.
