The Beauty

II Corinthians 7

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Defilement of flesh and spirit…

When I was growing up there was a lot of “making holy” the outward appearance and the actions – without much focus on the inward spirit.  We couldn’t go certain places, wear certain things, or do certain activities because they were wrong.  We didn’t know why it was wrong to go to movies, but we just were told it was wrong.  And although I’m sure there was teaching of wrong inward attitudes, the outward rules were the ones we strove to do, in order to be pleasing to God. That was easier than allowing Him to change our insides, our hearts, and our minds.

Defilement of the flesh and spirit go together, don’t they?  When we are abused physically, it wounds our spirit, and the two are scarred…forever.

But wait.

We serve a holy God who desires that we be holy, like him.

So he cleanses us from any defilement in both flesh and spirit, perfecting us in his sight.

We don’t have to adhere to rules first, then hope to please him, second.

We instead surrender to his love first, and our flesh responds second.

That’s the beauty of holiness.