Our God is a holy God and requires that we regard him as holy and glorify him (Lev 10:3). His priests were to be holy to God (Lev 21:6) and his people are called to be holy as he is holy (Lev 11:44).

The latter scripture is quoted by the apostle Peter in his first epistle (1 Peter 1:16). In verse 15 of that chapter he writes: “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation” (KJV). We know that Jesus is holiness (Acts 3:14). In 2 Corinthians 7:1 Paul directs us to: "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God".

Holiness should be a characteristic of the Christian or saint. It means to be set apart, sanctified, pure, clean. It is something we grow in as we allow the word to impact, convict and change us (Rom 12:2) and as we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and develop his fruit or character (Gal 5:22-23).

God is holy and as we grow in holiness, we draw closer to him (James 4:7,8) allowing his life to flow through us. "Be holy; for I am holy" is a process, a journey, but a beautiful one.