When God gave some instructions to the children of Israel He said, “You shall be holy for I am holy” (Lev 11:44,45; NKJV) (see also Lev 19:2; 20:7). God is holy and He wants His children to be holy. Peter refers to this in 1 Peter 1:15. The Greek word used in the New Testament for “holy” is “hagios” and it means: set apart for God, pure, sinless and upright. If we are to be set apart for God then we will have to cut ourselves off from worldliness, “Keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27b; NKJV). In Hebrews chapter 12 verse 14 we are told to pursue holiness; it’s not something you become overnight, but you can grow in holiness day by day (Heb 10:14). Psalm 15 describes some attributes of holiness to help us in our quest - being blameless, doing what is right, speaking the truth and not gossiping. The Holy Spirit is our helper as we strive to live a life of holiness (2 Peter 1:3). When Jesus was praying for His disciples He said, “Make them holy by Your truth, teach them Your word, which is truth” (John 17:17; NLT). In other words, if we want to grow in holiness, we will do that by spending time in God’s presence and in His word. In the Bible the process of growing in holiness is called “sanctification” and it is an ongoing process (I Thess 5:23).