by BE HOLY
Before the time of Jesus, to be holy meant to be “withdrawn” from others. The Jews were not allowed to enter the houses of non-Jews, eat with them or even shake hands with them. They would call others, “dogs” and treat them as such. Come to think of it, the only reason they behaved this way was to keep the laws and traditions of their ancestors, which set them apart as a privileged and higher class set of people.
It seems that some people still have that mentality of holiness today, thinking of themselves as different or better or even more religious than others, simply because they keep the rules or belong to a particular group. The truth is that only God can determine who is holy. Now, put that alongside what Jesus himself says about holiness and realise that we human beings still have a hard time understanding what it means to be ‘holy’
Jesus takes holiness a step further by coating it with both personal and social responsibilities. No more “eye for eye” or ‘tooth for tooth” treatments towards those who attempt to hurt us. Instead, he admonishes that we, “turn the other cheek.” No more simply “love your neighbour” but “love your enemy…” (read Mt. 5:38-48). Jesus does not mean we should take it literally and go turning ourselves into those who attack us or calling a feast for those who literally regard themselves as our mortal enemies. That’s not possible, humanly speaking.
What Jesus means is that, to be Holy we must instead:
1. Do away with mindsets that pitch us against our fellow human beings or make us put ourselves first in every situation in life.
2. Avoid writing people off, simply because they do not fit into the mould we have created for them.
3. Take advantage of any ugly situation and create good out of it. For example in this cashless economic situation in Nigeria, what are you doing to make life liveable to those around you by sharing your cash, food, drink or just anything that will make your neighbor feel relieved.
Above all, Jesus says we must make more effort at upgrading ourselves before paying attention to others. Our personal sanctification prepares us towards loving other people more than we do ourselves and that is the first step of holiness.
If we learn to respect our bodies, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit, by avoiding abusive acts with our bodies, we are by that same token, training ourselves to respect other human beings in all ramifications (1 Cor. 3:16-23). Respecting our bodies entail curtailing or avoiding especially sexual acts that for the most part defile us and weaken our spiritual relationship with God. If we do not respect our bodies, we cannot appreciate others and totally commit ourselves to them in a mature, selfless and sacrificial manner.
