"to us Holy is a good word for the library or the dark gothic cathedral that isnt exactly something that revs or engines but only fits a stern mood cautioning us against getting too overheated.
BUT to the apostle peter, to be holy was to stir up desire, to grab passion- in short, to live. a life pursuing holiness, says Peter, is a life that is sprinting away from ignorance, from small-minded living, but that basks in the wonder of God himself and that drinks in the depth and the awe and the exhilarating pleasure that is found in coming face to face with humanity's purpose.
why is it that Peter finds the pursuit of the holy so enticing? because God is holy. and God is the most madly alive, creative, uninhibited, wisely passionate being in the universe. and we are created in his image. born to live in his wild flow."
-winn collier (relevant magazine)

ho·ly,adj
1. recognized as or declared by religious us or authority; consecrated; holy ground.
2. dedicated or devoted to the service of God, the church, or religion.
3. saintly; pious; devout
4. having a spiritually pure quality; a holy love.
5. venerated as or as if sacred; a holy relic

"the dictionary is precious help when it comes to defining holiness. according to it, holiness either has something to do with God, or with being a really good person. the Bible is not big on definitions, maybe because the things that make like work can't be said in choppy numbered sentences.
holiness is connectedness to God. we are not holy neither by working hard nor by claiming to do things in the name of God. holiness means drawing on the triune God as the deepest source of our being, acknowledging that God is where everything good begins.

the great truths become great lies when we think we made them up; the great virtues are empty if our hearts have lost their center."
-stephanie gehring (relevant magazine)



"Thankfully, equally true is the action and reach of God's grace. We are not, without a doubt, "holy" on our own. Christ died for us while we were still sinners, He did not wait for us to clean up first. It's God's love for us, extending beyond time and culture, that draws us into Him. God's holiness is not a manipulation or the product of clever staging. Holiness, true holiness, is a drawing, or a luring ... a lure full of promise and of hope."
-eric hurtgen (relevant magazine)