What is your standard?

"Most Christians in our society today have set their sights far too low. They have compromised holiness and conformed to the complacency and worldly mindedness that typify the church today. Yet God's Word is uncomprmising. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14)

That quote from Because We Love Him: Embracing a Life of Holiness really stopped me for a moment as I read it. As I am seeking to be conformed to the image of the Christ I love, what image am I truely considering? I fear too often many of us take a lingering first glance at the standards of the church- incorrectly using that to gague our standard of holiness. We need to pull our glance from the church and fix it on Christ. The measure of holiness. "Be ye holy, for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:16) Only then will we see the image worthy of our imitation.

"Repentance that is not ongoing is not genuine; faith that does not involve surrender is not adquate; a life in which holiness does not develop is not Christian."