Keep Yourselves Holy

October 11th, 2025
by Natalie Selman

“But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
1 Peter 1:15-16

The Lord calls us to be holy in all of our behavior. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are washed clean and made new. We have been covered by the blood and are holy and blameless before the Lord. But we have the ability to defile ourselves by the decisions we make each day.

The Greek word for holy is, “hagios” which means, "separated or set apart by being in Christ.” When we become followers of Christ, we are set apart and dedicated to God.

“Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1

How do you remain set apart and dedicated to God? You cleanse yourself from all defilement of flesh and spirit.

“How can a young man keep his way pure?

By keeping watch on himself according to Your word [conforming his life to Your precepts]. With all my heart I have sought You, inquiring of You and longing for You;
Do not let me wander from Your commandments neither through ignorance nor by willful disobedience.
Your word I have treasured and stored in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.” Psalm 119:9-11

Whom the Son sets free is free indeed and we can stand on the promises of the Lord, and know we are more than conquerors through Him. But, you are not going to be able to stand in those promises and have freedom if you continually wander from His word. We see in these passages: it can be through ignorance or willful disobedience. Either way, we have to be diligent to guard ourselves from anything that does not line up with His Word. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any areas to you that you are wandering.

We keep our ways pure and holy by conforming our lives to His truth. You must be seeking Him over anything else. Treasure His Word and store it in your heart.
The body of Christ is suffering from the continual tolerance of unclean things and sin. People are claiming to be believers, they make sure people know they love Jesus, they go to church but are not honoring Him with their lives. There is a pandemic of complacency among the body.

Believers have become complacent and spiritually lazy. The desire to be holy and like Jesus has been replaced with the desire for comfort. Desiring being comfortable has led to selfishness. The flesh is getting stronger and stronger, and believers are unable to even hear the voice of the Holy Spirit anymore.

Without seeking holiness, without a desire for the Spirit and to want to grow in the Lord, the body of Christ looks exactly like the world. The body of Christ sounds like the world, acts like the world; the people who were called to be “set apart” are now fully blended into the ways of the world.

“Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.” Leviticus 20:26

We are set apart; we are called to be different. This is not because of legalism or rules. This is not to earn the love of God. He calls us to remain holy and to keep ourselves from defilement because He loves us and knows the bondage all of the sin will keep us in. When you draw near to Him, when you go deeper into The Word, He will continue to show you areas you need to surrender to Him. As you grow closer to Him, you will desire the things of the flesh less and less.

“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” John 17:17

We are sanctified in the truth. This is a process that will continue as long as we are on this Earth. In order to be sanctified, in order to grow closer to Him, in order to be holy like He is holy, you must renew your mind, seek Him and let go of the ways of this world.

1 Corinthians 10:1-6 (AMP) says:
For I do not want you to be unaware, believers, that our fathers were all under the cloud in which God’s presence went before them and they all passed miraculously and safely through the Red Sea; 2 And all of them were baptized into Moses into his safekeeping as their leader in the cloud and in the sea; 3 and all of them ate the same spiritual food; 4 and all of them drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not well-pleased with most of them, for they were scattered along the ground in the wilderness because their lack of self-control led to disobedience which led to death.
6 Now these things the warnings and admonitions took place as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did.

They all were a part of all the amazing things God did, just as so many Christians attend church weekly and take part in the things of the Lord. But God was not pleased with them because their lack of self-control led to disobedience which led to death. These verses end telling us, do not crave evil things as they did.

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you not to crave evil things or reveal any evil things you may be partaking in that you do not realize. Do not allow these things into your lives anymore, the open doors are the roots of the anxiety, fear, depression, addiction, etc. that the body of Christ is facing.

As long as believers continue to allow things into their lives that do not line up with the Word, there will be doors open for the enemy to come in and wreak havoc on your life. Keep yourselves holy.

Take inventory of your life; Are the words you say edifying? Are they clean? Is the music you listen to or the shows you watch Christ-like and holy? Are the people you spend your time with drawing you closer to Christ or further away?

You are never going to reach sinless perfection, and you still have to live in this world, but you also must be aware of how you are walking each day, and where that is leading you.
It is never too late to cleanse your life of the things that are unholy, the Lord is calling us to holiness. If the things you are doing, saying, and consuming are not drawing you closer to the Lord, then stop doing and partaking in them.

It is not easy to give up our creature comforts or the habits that are not profitable to us, but you are not doing it alone. In your weakness, He is strong. If you allow Him to, the Holy Spirit will help you let go of the desires of the flesh. It is a process, and it is a journey. There is grace when you fall short, but you must lean into the truth of God’s word and walk out what you say you believe.

“But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God’s precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth].” James 1:22