Living on Purpose with Billy Holland A clean heart and a right spirit
America began as a small group of Christians who believed in God and the Bible and considered their faith as their highest priority. However, we have sadly observed since that time, a huge decline in morality and a falling away from the awareness and reverence for the Almighty. When I was young, television would not even show a married couple’s bedroom having only one bed, but instead would have separate beds. Many will laugh at this as being ridiculous, but modesty and a sensitivity to purity was at one time very important to the general public. Having a conscience and spiritual respect for the divine standards of right and wrong was considered normal and accepted as the decency of our culture. It’s sad how quickly our modesty became extinct. God is holy and pure and has always established a standard of holiness for His people which includes that we should live like He is, or at least as close as we can. In fact, all people are given a sense of right and wrong along with a builtin ethical code and a moral compass. We realize the Christian life is a progression of spiritual development and as we learn to repent and the importance of letting go of our carnal nature, we can become transformed into His image. Our existence is a daily classroom where the serious minded follower of Jesus desires to grow and become stronger in their personal relationship with Him and their dedication to His will.
So what happened to our world in such a short period of time? I believe we can agree that all it takes for the arrogance of sin to become dominant is for a generation of individuals who know God’s truth to remain silent. We are reminded that followers of Jesus are supposed to be different from the world and called to separate themselves from the love of the world which is called sanctification. Of all the people you know in your personal network, can you tell a drastic difference between those who are Christians and others who are not? Being spiritually born again through what Christ accomplished on the cross and His resurrection is what determines a child of God from those who have yet to experience this glorious transformation, and one aspect of our new identity is the sensitivity of our conscience to discern truth from error. Yes, it’s true that Christians have the potential to understand Biblical values and to be led by the Holy Spirit, but in order to know Him personally, we must be close to Him. Only those who develop an awareness of His presence can understand what He is saying. Sadly, many resist this invitation to dwell in the secret place and have become hardened to intentional sin as a result of losing their humility, inhibition, and innocence. When anyone can do wrong and not feel guilt and shame, something is terribly wrong within their soul. The way to a pure and clean conscience is to humbly ask God for His forgiveness and for self-discipline as we strive to resist the deceptions and temptations of carnality. “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” Psalm 51:10.
You can read more about the Christian life and order Billy’s books for the holidays at billyhollandministries.com