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Contamination

             Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. (II Corinthians 7:1)

While this doesn’t look like a collective verse, it still has the “we.” This allows the verse to be both about us as individuals and us as a community. There are two questions that need to be addressed. The first and obvious question is what contaminates our bodies and spirits, either as individuals or communities? The obvious answer is “sin,” but  sometimes what contaminates doesn’t seem bad. Pray about it and see what God tell you.

The second question is what are we willing to give up, or take on, out of reverence for God. Do we revere God? If we do, what does that mean in our lives? What should it mean? This is one of those “exam table” questions that I automatically answer negatively. I don’t think I revere God, or at least not much. I don’t live up to the perfection that I should, and when it comes down to choosing the good things that He would undoubtedly prefer or choosing what I want, my choice is consistently the latter. What would I give up/take on if God asked me to? Told me to? My answer is “nothing,” but in the past, I have given up and taken on things because I was convinced that God has said to. So I’m not sure my automatic answer is the real answer.

One idea Dallas Willard shared was that our goal should be to reach the point at which what we want to do is what God wants us to do. So while we might think in terms of our revering God when we sigh and say, “Thy will be done” the truth is that we are also showing reverence when we simply live according to what He has taught us.  It doesn’t only count if there’s a battle of wills.

And that probably fits with your experience even when God isn’t involved. Who is someone you respect? How do you treat them? I know that when someone I respect speaks, I’m likely to listen and to try to incorporate what I hear into my life. In fact, as I think about my trip with a friend yesterday, I  noticed myself doing something I often do. It’s all about “hurry up and get the pictures.” She seems much more relaxed. I’m keeping that in mind as I plan another little adventure. What if we noticed a difference between our holiness and Gods, and simply fed our desire to be more like Him? 

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