We ought to have this kind of hunger for righteousness.  But change also takes time. You don't get holiness in your life magically or instantly.  Though we are justified instantly by faith before God the Father when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit continues to do a lifelong work in our lives changing us into the likeness of Christ.  Don't let anyone fool you into thinking that being "slain in the spirit" or some other quick solution will erase your sin nature or make you completely holy.  The process of holiness is a lifetime work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and we must be willing to follow Him and submit all along the way.


Change Takes Time

Philippians 1:6 "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

A little girl had just finished her first week of school and was ready to give up. She told her mom. "I'm wasting my time. I can't read, I can't write--and they won't let me talk!" Too often we want change to take place overnight, and on our own terms. Change...improvement...holiness is a process that God works in our lives, and sometimes it takes time.

One of the things we should be careful of is not allowing our clean clothes as Christians to be soiled by contact with the world and with the leaven of unrighteousness.  This means staying away from sin and being careful not to give into temptations of the enemy.  We must continue to witness to sinners and be light and salt in this world.  We also need to stay far away from false believers -- especially false teachers and false prophets on TV -- because "clean don't rub off" on people who are self-deceived and under God's judgment.  We can pray for them and try to help them, but be careful because being in unity with and hanging out with those who do not share our beliefs in the core doctrines of the Faith can dirty our own clothes.

Clean Don't Rub Off - Leviticus 15:5,Numbers 19:22,Psalm 19:7-11,Haggai 2:12-14

Wouldn't it be great if you could clean your dirty socks by putting them in a drawer with a clean pair? Life would be a lot simpler if clean rubbed off! Imagine the time you would save, no longer having to do the laundry. Your water bill would decrease significantly, and you would pocket some extra money because you wouldn't have to buy all those detergents!

But clean doesn't rub off; dirt does. Clean things are soiled when they come into contact with dirty things. That is why the Israelites had to scrupulously avoid coming into contact with unclean things. How about you? Are you careful to avoid unclean things on television, in print and in what you listen to?

TOTAL COMMITMENT

The mother of the family was celebrating a birthday and the rest of the family was treating her to a party. When the time for the presentation of the gifts arrived, she was instructed to sit in her favorite living room chair. One by one, the father and the two older children came in from the kitchen bearing their gifts on a tray, solemnly presenting them to her as to royalty. The smallest girl, really too little to have had much of a role in the gift selection, had been left out of these joyous plans. But watching the process, she rose to the occasion. For when the others thought the party was over, she appeared from the kitchen bearing an empty tray. Approaching her mother she placed the tray on the floor, stepped upon it herself, and with a childish wiggle of joy said, "Mommy, I give you ME!" (Charles Krieg, St. Joseph's Seminary, Princeton, NJ.)