Holiness
When we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit presents us to Jesus as a chaste virgin. We are washed clean of any sin we've ever committed and all our Bride Groom sees is our holiness and purity. It's as if we've never had relations with the world and we are adorned in a gown of righteousness and purity.
Unfortunately, we can once again become tainted by life and the world we live in. We don't always make the best decisions and sin can be invited back to become a part of our identity. Soon, time with Jesus becomes minimal and we are led astray by our lusts and passions.
Yes, we are all human and imperfect...but there's a blood...a crimson red and pure blood that was shed for our sins, weaknesses and failures. It washes us clean of every impurity.
Though we are saved by His amazing grace, He does expect us to live a holy life, fully dedicated to Him. Is that attainable? Not by our strength, but the closer we get to Jesus the more our desires change and begin to line up with His. Sin is a temporary pleasure that leaves you empty and wanting for more. A deeply passionate relationship with Jesus brings eternal pleasure and a peace that nothing in this world can compare to. Stop trying to overcome sin on your own. The more you focus on it the more it will entice your desires. Place your attention on Him and His love for you. The changes in your life will come simultaneously with your spiritual growth.
Even when you've messed up and feel a great chasm between you and God, you can still repent and return into the virtuous person He's called you to be. Nothing in this life is worth separating you from Christ and nothing can fulfill like He can!
1 Peter 1:13-16 (NLT) So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
2 Corinthians 11:2-3 (KJV) For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Isaiah 59:2 (NKJV) But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, o that He will not hear.
