Why Holy Matters
The War

Scripture Reading:  1 Peter 2:9-12

Key Verse:  1 Peter 2:11

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

If we don’t live holy lives—caving to our evil desires—we lose the war against our souls.  The Apostle Peter makes it clear that our eternal souls are a “prize” that the devil wants to claim for his own.  The war is never ending and comes at us from many different fronts.  Holiness is our shield and provides the weapons needed to win the war.

            When we abstain from evil desires, we close the door to battles that can bring us down.  It takes discipline to say no to the initial temptations that the evil one allures us with, but when we don’t immediately say no to those invitations, but go down a path that is much harder to fight, we enter into the devil’s domain.  Once we crack the door and allow those thoughts, the devil comes in with full force.  This process reminds me of Luke’s description of the clean house.  Luke reports Jesus’ story of the man who cleans his life up, but then allows the enemy to come back into his life.  This time the enemy brings “seven other spirits more wicked than itself.”  Jesus concludes with this summary: “And the final condition of the man is worse than the first” (Luke 11:24-26).

            Without holiness, we live with evil that just gets worse and worse.  Many people have testified that they ended in a place they never dreamed they would be!  Sin will take us to these horrible places and keep us there much longer than we ever thought possible.  Start now.  Abstain from evil desires!

Father, please open my eyes to the war that I face every day.  Grant me strength to abstain from evil.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.