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"It is holiness that makes your doing have the power to change the world."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 51.
When I read that quote above I feel kind of uneasy. Why? Because it sounds like to me that in order to have real impact in this world I had better get my act together and be that perfect little Christian soldier. If holiness makes what I do have impact in the world I had better get my self as holy as I can or I'm going to feel like a failure.
That last paragraph is filled with victim thinking possibilities. Did you catch that? I'm hoping you can begin to see and hear the words that come from a victim thinking perspective. Recognizing by what we hear or see in our words that might be fueled by victim thinking is a great way to help keep us from going too far down this destructive path.
What that quote from my book seems to be saying is that it is all up to us to have the impact in this world we all hope to have. That quote looks to be a formula for success. In other words, if I do holiness well enough then I'll be able to tap into the power needed for real and lasting change. I hate to say this so bluntly, but anything that seems to be the result of direct of a connection we can control is typically a short cut to victim thinking. This is particularly the case when the formulas we lean on are tied in any way to those things we think we can control when it comes to issues that will ultimately reflect on how the world views our identity.
With all that said, I completely stand behind my quote from earlier. It IS holiness that makes our doing have the power to change the world. The kind of change that is noticed in this world needs a power that we simply aren't able to muster up on our own. It is God's power that makes impacting change happen. Tapping into that power comes as a result of holiness. The beauty of this truth is that it isn't up to us, this thing called holiness.
It all goes back to the doing vs being discussion. Holiness isn't necessarily the result of our doing. It is something we are and therefore something we just have to be. Boy, have I gotten it all wrong in that regard for most of my life. That's why when I read that quote above I can start to feel the victim thinking tendencies rearing their ugly head in my life. In the past I would have done holiness in order to be the victor that comes with God's power for change in this world.
Take a look at today's Bible verse for more on the subject of holiness.
He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. 2 Timothy 1:9 (NIV)
"... not because of anything we have done." I don't think I can hear those words enough. The more and more I think it is up to me to walk out this identity of mine with any success the less and less capable I feel. I need to have the fact that it is all up to God tattooed on my hands so that when I put my efforts towards anything in this world I will remember where the power is coming from. The same goes for holiness as far as I can understand what God is saying in my life.
Holiness is up to Him. I can never be perfect enough to relate to Him. In other words, even if I live an absolutely perfect or holy life from this point on I still fall short of the benchmark of perfection because of my past. Holiness is really a characteristic that God transfers to me as a result of the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
Of course it is my responsibility to make choices that will honor God. I hope you have gotten to the point where I am and realize that there is no way in the world I will be able to always get this "doing" right in my life. There will be times when my "doing" will be done from a place of mixed motives on my best days and down right sinfulness on my worst days. If holiness were completely up to me the power I could expect from the holiness in my life would swing from on to off in wildly unpredictable ways.
I happen to believe that I was created to have impact on this world. As I age, I'm starting to get more and more comfortable with the fact that I really don't know what that means. I'm starting to believe that it is up to God anyways and that all I want to do is to do those things that are before me with as much passion and conviction as I possibly can. I'm deciding to leave the results up to Him since He is the source of the power I need to move forward anyway.
How about you? Do you feel like you were placed here for something that could be described as impact? I hope you do because if you have breath in your lungs, I believe that is most definitely the case. God isn't done with you and your purpose even though it feels like it at times due all the badness that can come against us in this world.
Here's what I suggest you do today. I suggest you simply BE. Be the child He has made you to be. Be the victor that He has called in your life. Then, DO knowing that the power behind what you do and the results of your doing are all in God's hands. The more you can weed out your drive to prove that you are all you believe yourself to be by seeing impact happen in your life, the more you will be able to throw off those victim thinking feelings that work to weigh you down. God has given you a tremendous grace to BE without having to prove your being by doing. Grab onto that grace and flourish in living the life of a victor today.
Holiness is up to Him. I can never be perfect enough to relate to Him. In other words, even if I live an absolutely perfect or holy life from this point on I still fall short of the benchmark of perfection because of my past. Holiness is really a characteristic that God transfers to me as a result of the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
Of course it is my responsibility to make choices that will honor God. I hope you have gotten to the point where I am and realize that there is no way in the world I will be able to always get this "doing" right in my life. There will be times when my "doing" will be done from a place of mixed motives on my best days and down right sinfulness on my worst days. If holiness were completely up to me the power I could expect from the holiness in my life would swing from on to off in wildly unpredictable ways.
I happen to believe that I was created to have impact on this world. As I age, I'm starting to get more and more comfortable with the fact that I really don't know what that means. I'm starting to believe that it is up to God anyways and that all I want to do is to do those things that are before me with as much passion and conviction as I possibly can. I'm deciding to leave the results up to Him since He is the source of the power I need to move forward anyway.
How about you? Do you feel like you were placed here for something that could be described as impact? I hope you do because if you have breath in your lungs, I believe that is most definitely the case. God isn't done with you and your purpose even though it feels like it at times due all the badness that can come against us in this world.
Here's what I suggest you do today. I suggest you simply BE. Be the child He has made you to be. Be the victor that He has called in your life. Then, DO knowing that the power behind what you do and the results of your doing are all in God's hands. The more you can weed out your drive to prove that you are all you believe yourself to be by seeing impact happen in your life, the more you will be able to throw off those victim thinking feelings that work to weigh you down. God has given you a tremendous grace to BE without having to prove your being by doing. Grab onto that grace and flourish in living the life of a victor today.
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