Can Holiness be Beautiful?
“Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” (Psalms 29:2 – AKJV)
You may have heard the story of the little boy who expressed his belief that the mule in the family’s farmyard was a Christian.
Asked what led him to that conclusion, he said, “It has such a long face.”
What a grim and sad view of what should be and how far it is from reality! Those who are true followers of Christ can experience the joy of the Lord, even while passing through hard times.
The view of a Christian suffering under the burden of trying to live a holy life is a distortion, a shame. And a bad testimony redemption is supposed to be.
The world gains an impression from such images that Christians are “holier-than-thou” people who look down upon those who don’t “measure up” to their standards. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Those who go around with long faces, and present a grim image to outsiders, have either not experience the power of Christ for themselves, or they have lost their joy somewhere along the way. To the true follower of Christ holiness is a beautiful thing – it is something imparted by God, and not self-generated.
It is a tremendous burden trying to be holy when you know for a fact nothing good exists in you:
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good [is] not. (Romans 7:18 – NASB)
Hebrews 12:10 tells us we can be partakers of God’s holiness.
Peter reminds us that we can be partakers of the divine nature, and this escape the corruption that is in the world:
For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of [the] divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. (2 Peter 1:4 – NASB)
So when can holiness be beautiful?
- Holiness can be beautiful when it is not self-generated, but imparted by the love and grace of Christ.
- Holiness is beautiful when it is accompanied by love and mercy.
- Holiness is beautiful when it walks hand in hand with humility.
There are no doubt other characteristics that make holiness a beautiful thing, but there is no need for us to walk about with long faces and a self-righteous aspect.
“…for the kingdom of God is … righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17 – NASB)
(21st May 1992)
“Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” (Psalms 29:2 – AKJV)
The beauty of holiness is not always seen
By those who are dazzled by the worldly scene.
They think that the quiet and clean living one
Must needs be encumbered, and life’s for him done—
A dreary existence that few can still bear—
Enter upon it? None of them dare.
Because of their blindness, their failure to think,
They pass by such beauty, and don’t even blink
When a man or a woman, of pure heart and mind,
Performs such deeds of the manner and kind
That lift up the fallen, encourage the weak:
Reach out with compassion to those who seek.
They miss that twinkle in the eye of faith,
And the glow of glory in the believer’s face,
And haven’t a clue of the joy and peace
That comes when thoughts of self decease;
Or the light of Heaven that fills the eye
When the merest whisper of truth floats by.
The beauty of holiness — an impossible goal —
Unless it is planted by God in the soul,
Is the only hunger and thirst, I find,
That fills all the being, the heart and mind.
And, though no one else can see it’s glory,
I want this theme to be “my story.”
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