Be Holy

I had a conversation with 3 seventh grade girls the other day, and I asked them this question: "Is it possible for us to be holy?" I was met, initially, with blank stares, followed by hesitant head shaking. Their answer, at last, was "No." So I led them to the following verse:

For it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16

Then I asked, "Would God tell us to do something that wasn't possible for us to do?"

My young friends are not any different than any of us. Most of us would probably have the same uncertain answer to the question of being holy. God is holy. We aren't God, so how in the world can we be holy?

I actually learned the answer to this question many years ago from my great friend and teacher, Randy. Recently, I had the privilege of being in a class with him again in which we studied this topic in depth. I felt it was important to pass this understanding on to my young friends. I don't want them to go through the next 20 or 30 years not understanding that they can live holy lives. If they don't realize that holiness is attainable, they won't strive for it. Our children need to know that if they are believers, "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness" 2 Peter 1:3.

So often, too often, our teenagers graduate and go off to college and leave behind all the spiritual teaching they have received over the years. There are many reasons for this. But the underlying reason is that they don't "own" their faith. They don't really understand what they believe or if they really believe it. Many kids, to use Lee Strobel's words, "graduate from church". Off at college, off on their own without mom and dad waking them up on Sunday morning, they fall out of the habit-because a habit is all it ever was. It is our high calling and responsibility as parents to see that our children understand what they believe and why.

I have heard the phrase "passing on our faith to our children" over the years. I would like to suggest a better idea. What if we help our children grow their own faith. After all, my children can't find eternal life in my faith.