As I tried to suggest in the last issue of this article, the call to holiness is a call to come to a deeper, clearer and truly a more profound understanding of life itself. This is predicated on the belief that if we truly understand the meaning and purpose of life, we will wholeheartedly embrace the Jesus Way of Living because it will transform us into the beings God intended when He created us.

Now I would hasten to suggest that this does not, like so much of Western Christian spiritual literature suggests, mean the achievement of perfection. I would rather suggest that it will lead to enlightenment – a true understanding of who we are in God’s wonderful universe. The Jesus way of living will also open us to a real relationship with God, facilitated by our real relationship to other human beings. As our relationships to other human beings become more genuine, that is based on unconditional love that is proven by unconditional forgiveness and acceptance, we will begin to have a true relationship with the God Who we do not see.

Unfortunately, it seems that some spiritual literature suggests that we can have a genuine relationship with God without having genuine human relationships. We need to recall the words of the Disciple John when he wrote: If anyone says, My love is fixed on God, yet hates his brother, he is a liar. One who has no love for the brother he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

So the call to holiness is a call to become the human being God intended when He created you. Although He gave each of us unique strengths and weaknesses, He also gave us a model which He intends us to imitate. That model is Jesus, the Christ.

Because Jesus is truly a man as well as God, He can be imitated. All the things that He did and said while on earth are things and we can do and say because of our human nature. Let us imitate Him!