Don’t Abandon the Pursuit of Holiness

When I first started following Jesus, my vocabulary exploded with new words.

Words like salvation, grace, and mercy became just as common in my speech as yes, please and thank you. I was a new creation redeemed, forgiven, and made new in Christ. The best part? It felt like God was doing all the work. All I had to do was show up.

Or so I thought.

Then came that one word I had silently ignored holiness.

Why Holiness Feels Intimidating

To be honest, I wasn’t fond of that word. Holy sounded like old women in stiff church pews judging everyone who didn’t measure up including people like me.

Holiness, in my mind, was unattainable. Worse, it seemed to mean giving up my identity my style, my music, my dreams and becoming someone I barely recognized. I feared that if I embraced holiness, I’d lose touch with real life, with real people, with myself.

But here’s what I’ve learned: our misunderstanding of holiness might be the biggest reason we resist it.

The Truth About Holiness

For many of us, poor teaching and misinterpretations have turned holiness into a scary word one that feels more about pressure than peace. We’ve often confused holiness with legalism, equating it to a strict checklist of dos and don’ts rather than a deep invitation to transformation.

In Scripture, though, holiness isn’t about rule-following. It’s about being set apart not from the world to avoid it, but from sin so we can reflect God within it. The Greek word used in the New Testament for holy, hagioi, means to sanctify or to be set apart. It speaks of cleansing, of being prepared for a higher purpose.

It’s not about becoming a cookie-cutter Christian who fits a mold. It’s about becoming more you the you God created, polished and purified to reflect His heart.

Holiness Isn’t a Personality Change

Holiness doesn’t require you to lose your identity. It redeems your identity.

That means the guy who loves hip-hop doesn’t have to give it up to be holy. Instead, God may use that very love to reach people others never could. That’s how we get artists like Lecrae. Holiness doesn’t erase who you are it transforms who you are into a vessel for God's glory.

The young woman with big dreams doesn’t have to bury them in the name of “waiting on God.” Holiness teaches her how to follow the Holy Spirit’s lead and trust God’s timing without giving up on her purpose.

The call to holiness is not a loss it’s a gain.

Holiness Isn’t a Quest for Perfection

There’s a difference between perfection and being perfected. Holiness is not about becoming flawless overnight. Like a diamond put through the fire, we are refined to reflect the image of our Creator. And like a diamond, we may still carry imperfections but they do not take away from our value. They reveal the beauty of what God is forming in us.

When we embrace holiness, we stop pretending and start transforming. We don’t act holy to impress others we grow holy because we’re in love with the God who made us holy.

Don’t Give Up on Holiness

Yes, holiness will ask you to leave some things behind.
Yes, it will challenge your habits and stretch your heart.
But no, it will not strip you of your identity.
It will enhance it.

God isn’t asking you to be holy so He can love you. He’s asking you to be holy because He already does. And He’s not asking you to do it on your own—He’s doing the sanctifying.

The more holy we become, the more we shine in a darkened world. The more we reflect the One who set us apart not just to avoid sin, but to display glory.

So don’t give up on holiness.

Not because it’s easy. Not because it’s trendy.
But because it’s who you were always meant to be.

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