Can a person really be expected to live a holy life in this world? When God said, “Be ye holy, for I am holy,” did He really mean for us to take Him literally? Surely, He knows it is possible! ​I mean, consider what the average Joe has to face each day: television and advertising assault him with sensuality and materialism; contemporary music glorifies lifestyles that are anything but holy; the people he works with urge him to loosen up and go with the flow. On and on it goes. And it isn’t any better for the average Mary—she faces all the above and more. ​So, in the midst of all this, we’re supposed to act like angels? Now I’m not saying we don’t want to, after all, we are Christians and we certainly do want to make Heaven when this life ends. But we get kind of concerned when we read in the twelfth chapter of Hebrews that without holiness, “no man shall see the Lord”. So, what’s the answer? And just what is holiness? ​Let’s settle one issue right away. God means exactly what He says. Now before you throw your hands in the air and walk off in hopeless frustration, listen to this: God is not a tyrant; He is not commanding something that He knows is impossible for us to do, nor is He unaware of what you and I face in this wicked world. Yet He still requires the true Christian to be holy. ​So how do we reconcile our struggles with His requirements? First, let’s nail down the meaning of the word holy. The Webster’s Dictionary tells us that it means “… spiritually perfect or pure; untainted by evil or sin; sinless; saintly”. Whew! Sounds like a pretty tall order, doesn’t it? But let’s look at the Bible definition. We read in 2 Timothy 2:22 that we are to “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart”. Notice the last two words—“pure heart”. Throughout Scripture, we find the theme of God desiring a pure heart repeated over and over. ​Remember when David’s brothers were paraded before the prophet Samuel? One fine specimen of manhood after another, yet God rejected them. Why? God told Samuel that “man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart”. Paul tells us that God sees all the thoughts and intents of our hearts. And we read in 2 Chronicles 16:9 that God is looking for that one who has a heart that is perfect toward Him. ​Do you see where we’re heading? God is more concerned with the condition of our hearts than He is with our outward actions. So does that mean we can do anything we want and it’s all right with God? No, it means that if we prayerfully and carefully maintain the pure heart that God gives us when He sanctifies us, our actions will be pure in God’s eyes. He looks for pure motives and an earnest sincere desire to please Him. So even when our actions seem to fall short of our ideals for holiness, remember that God is looking on the heart. ​If we have a desire to be holy planted in our hearts, we’ll avoid situations that might defile our hearts. How? For one thing, we need to say with the psalmist, “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes”. Be extremely selective in what you look at and what you read. Then do the same thing with your ears. Don’t purposely listen to the things that could lead you downward. And make sure you keep your thoughts in line with Philippians 4:8! ​Granted, there will always be things paraded before our eyes and forced into our ears that we have no control over. And Satan can flash thoughts across our minds. But we aren’t responsible for what we involuntarily face in life, only for how we respond to what we face. The Lord will give us strength if we are willing to turn to Him when we are in need. Did you catch the phrase if we are willing? Never underestimate the danger of a misdirected will. If we wilfully begin to lean towards something that is antagonistic to heart-holiness, we will frustrate God’s attempts to help us. ​Yes, God demands holiness, but rejoice—it’s attainable for all who desire it and are willing to diligently seek it!

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Can a person really be expected to live a holy life in this world? When God said, “Be ye holy, for I am holy,” did He really mean for us to take Him literally? Surely, He knows it is possible! ​I mean, consider what the average Joe has to face each day: television and advertising assault him with sensuality and materialism; contemporary music glorifies lifestyles that are anything but holy; the people he works with urge him to loosen up and go with the flow. On and on it goes. And it isn’t any better for the average Mary—she faces all the above and more. ​So, in the midst of all this, we’re supposed to act like angels? Now I’m not saying we don’t want to, after all, we are Christians and we certainly do want to make Heaven when this life ends. But we get kind of concerned when we read in the twelfth chapter of Hebrews that without holiness, “no man shall see the Lord”. So, what’s the answer? And just what is holiness? ​Let’s settle one issue right away. God means exactly what He says. Now before you throw your hands in the air and walk off in hopeless frustration, listen to this: God is not a tyrant; He is not commanding something that He knows is impossible for us to do, nor is He unaware of what you and I face in this wicked world. Yet He still requires the true Christian to be holy. ​So how do we reconcile our struggles with His requirements? First, let’s nail down the meaning of the word holy. The Webster’s Dictionary tells us that it means “… spiritually perfect or pure; untainted by evil or sin; sinless; saintly”. Whew! Sounds like a pretty tall order, doesn’t it? But let’s look at the Bible definition. We read in 2 Timothy 2:22 that we are to “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart”. Notice the last two words—“pure heart”. Throughout Scripture, we find the theme of God desiring a pure heart repeated over and over. ​Remember when David’s brothers were paraded before the prophet Samuel? One fine specimen of manhood after another, yet God rejected them. Why? God told Samuel that “man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart”. Paul tells us that God sees all the thoughts and intents of our hearts. And we read in 2 Chronicles 16:9 that God is looking for that one who has a heart that is perfect toward Him. ​Do you see where we’re heading? God is more concerned with the condition of our hearts than He is with our outward actions. So does that mean we can do anything we want and it’s all right with God? No, it means that if we prayerfully and carefully maintain the pure heart that God gives us when He sanctifies us, our actions will be pure in God’s eyes. He looks for pure motives and an earnest sincere desire to please Him. So even when our actions seem to fall short of our ideals for holiness, remember that God is looking on the heart. ​If we have a desire to be holy planted in our hearts, we’ll avoid situations that might defile our hearts. How? For one thing, we need to say with the psalmist, “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes”. Be extremely selective in what you look at and what you read. Then do the same thing with your ears. Don’t purposely listen to the things that could lead you downward. And make sure you keep your thoughts in line with Philippians 4:8! ​Granted, there will always be things paraded before our eyes and forced into our ears that we have no control over. And Satan can flash thoughts across our minds. But we aren’t responsible for what we involuntarily face in life, only for how we respond to what we face. The Lord will give us strength if we are willing to turn to Him when we are in need. Did you catch the phrase if we are willing? Never underestimate the danger of a misdirected will. If we wilfully begin to lean towards something that is antagonistic to heart-holiness, we will frustrate God’s attempts to help us. ​Yes, God demands holiness, but rejoice—it’s attainable for all who desire it and are willing to diligently seek it!

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I thank God for the power in His word and for the work of the Holy Spirit in making men believe His word. I am ever grateful to God for looking down in mercy to save my soul while in secondary school. I had two distinct experiences on how God speaks while I was a teenager –one in the hospital while being treated for a broken leg after a car accident, and the other on my way home from an errand, when God spoke using an outdoor film show on the restitution of Zacchaeus. These experiences were my earliest memories of the fact that God speaks and these built in me an endless personal relationship with Him. There have been many things I have had to wait on God for – what school to attend; what course to study; career switch from Telecommunications to Consulting etc., but none of these was as breath-taking as waiting on Him on the subject of who and when to marry. One thing worked for me and it is that I never wanted anything outside of God’s will and He always saw that I was desperate to have His will done. So, I prayed until I was emptied of self and had sweet peace. This has been my long route of knowing God’s will – emptying self, finding sweet peace and then taking the decision. I had been blessed with so many great friends at various stages of my life, but I had not always considered marriage with any, because of a personal belief that a relationship will only be considered when I have an established long-term vision and direction for my life. I had attempted crossing the line of my personal belief sometimes, and I regret I ever did. That long-term vision was neither established after NYSC, nor upon qualification as a Chartered Accountant, nor in my two years of working with a telecommunications giant. However, a desire to gain international financial reporting skills prompted a long-term career move to consulting. It was within this move that God saw the need for a ‘helpmate’ and that was the first thing God did on my first morning in Deloitte, unknown to me. I did not have to bring many of my friends before God to ask “who?”; though I had one on my mind that shared faith and communications with me. However, since my way of knowing God’s will was a long route, it took me months to know it was not her and in fact, she was to get married a few months before me. With the highest-ranked friend amongst my peers out of the way, I began to notice the diligence and meticulousness of my wife, who at that time had been working with me in church for about a year. I began to like her and had to let it pass through the long route of knowing God’s will. As each day passed, I loved her the more, but I had not yet gotten a response. I was not having time to consecrate and pray due to work pressure, frequent travels and multiple examinations. In the week of one of my exams, I had a huge burden to pray and God required me to forfeit the exams and to wait on Him as I would be returning to work thereafter. This I did and found the sweet peace I needed. I discussed with the marriage counselor, and he asked that I go back to seek re-assurances. So, I tarried in Anthony for two days to enable me clear that before resuming to work, and this, God honored. I had asked for signs I never got, but then God spoke to me just like he did when I was a teenager and reminded me of the first person I had communicated with, the first morning I resumed at Deloitte. I argued with God – I never had communication links to my wife, not until recently, and my phone had also been changed since I resumed at Deloitte. But then, God asked me to check my social media platform messages. I did, and observed that I had responded to her “friend request” and sent congratulatory messages on her convocation. This was a shock and joy to me, as I was in awe as to how God had led. I met the marriage counselor the same day and he asked me to inform her. We met in the evening of the same day, but I could only tell her over the phone that night as I resumed work the next day. That was the most fulfilling “leave” period I had ever had. My wife will have her pray through experience to share because it took her six months to respond. But, we did have a good relationship, hence I was not under pressure as to what Her response will be. When she accepted, we were advised by the DS to jointly go and seek assurances and be willing to let go, in case all the necessary boxes were not ticked. This was our interpretation of what he said and our knowledge of the books we had read and planned to read. As such, our courtship was a very cautious one as we kept on hoping it was indeed His will if He allowed it to scale through. In that period, we began to keep a diary of assurances on almost all matters for the future and had lots of good time to know each other. In the month before our wedding, the devil hit me with loads of doubts to the point that I had called off the wedding in my mind; this I saw as being willing to let go. But, as I approached the office where I intended to seek counsel, the spirit of God came and gave me more than enough flashbacks of assurances that outweighed the doubts. With this final check, I committed to God and my wife on October 16, 2014, and since then God has kept His every word.

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