Holiness and Suffering

Hey people!! I went to an amazing youth conference this weekend titled "The Holiness of God." It was absolutely AMAZING. It was so humbling, and I realized how much we toss words around without thinking about what they really mean. Sooo...I'm going to give my take on some commonly used words and their meanings. This time it's going to be

1. Holiness
2. and Suffering

(Yes, I realize that the title gave it away. I'm a little sleepy.) Ok, Holiness.

Definitions:

1. The quality or state of being holy. 
2. Blessedness, Godliness, Saintliness.

Holy Definitions:

1. specially recognized as or declared sacred by religious use or authority; consecrated.
2. dedicated or devoted to the service of god, the church, or religion.
3. saintly; godly; pious; devout.
4. having a spiritually pure quality.
5. inspiring fear, awe, or grave distress.

If one is holy (and there is only one that's holy), it's means that that person is completely perfect, and that that person is completely set apart from those who are unholy. This perfectly describes God, except for two things. One, He was also at one point fully God and fully man at one time. Two, He lets us establish close and intimate relationships with Him. Both of these violate the "set apart" thing. How could God become a man if He's holy? How could he associate with those who are unholy if He's holy? Well, God could become a man just cuz he wanted to, and because He's just awesome like that. But he was still set apart, because He didn't sin. (Yes, I realize that that's hard to believe, too, but, like I said, He's just awesome like that.) The fact that He didn't sin and that set him apart from everyone else who's ever walked the face of this green earth. As for Two, even though it's absolutely impossible to get on God's level as far as perfection goes, God is so compassionate that He decided to give His chosen people some "Get Out of Jail Hell Free" cards. He continues to bring us closer to Him every day and as we get closer to the day we die, then when we die, we're as close to Him as we'll ever get. Thinking about how holy He is makes us realize how much we need Him and how filthy and awful we really are. When we see Him in Glory, only then will we really get a grasp of our wickedness and sinfulness. I wish I thought about how holy God is and how unholy I am more.

I'm also going to wait to do suffering because I'm sick of typing.

Adios, my homeys!
~Caroline