TO FIT IN OR STAND OUT?
A reflection from 1 Peter 1:13-25
How important is it for you to fit in?
While I’d love to tell you that this desire to fit in and be included is something we only experience during our teen years, the truth is that for most of us, it’s not. Often, we sadly carry this desire long into our adult years. Most of us can relate to the need to be accepted and included. But what if I told you that, as followers of Christ, there is freedom and rest from this ongoing struggle? We are called to something far greater than simply "fitting in." Let’s look at 1 Peter 1:13-16:
"Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'"
God is perfect, pure, and Holy, and He is the One who created and called us. And for those who belong to Him, those who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, those who walk in newness of life as a new creation in Him, we are called " to be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:15-16).
What does it mean to be holy?
If we turn to Leviticus, the third book of the Old Testament, we see the theme of holiness woven throughout much of it. So why were the Israelites called to be holy? The most simple, short-winded way of putting it is that the Israelite people were to live in a way that made them look different from those who surrounded them because of their covenantal relationship with the One and Only True God. Chapters 17-27 of Leviticus are often referred to as the Holiness Code, which provides the ways in which God’s people should live and act that will unify them together and set them apart from the rest. Leviticus 19:1-2 says:
"And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.'”
Here, "holy" means to be separate or set apart. God commanded Israel to be different and separate themselves from things opposing His truth and commands. Why? Because they were His people, created in His image, and they were called to live in a way that reflected His holiness.
Obviously, as Christians, we do not follow the same laws, rituals, and sacrificial system of the Old Testament because Jesus Christ came as the fulfillment of the laws and is the ultimate sacrifice and atonement for our sins —past, present, and future. But the call to be set apart remains. We are called to live differently from the world and our old selves before Christ.
Why do we pursue holiness?
As God’s chosen holy people, we are His vessels that carry and pour out the Gospel's Good News of Eternal Salvation. We are to pursue holiness because it reflects His character and honors Him. God is perfect and Holy, and while we will never reach perfection on earth, we are to pursue it with every fiber of us, not because we have to out of obligation of our calling but out of our desire to please God and delight in His ways. Our pursuit of a holy life sets us apart from the rest.
Things to know as you pursue…
On this path, some will not agree with your choices or decisions based on your devotion to Christ, but always remember that we’re not seeking the approval of the world but of God. At the same time, this path also doesn't mean that we look down our noses as the ones that choose differently and don't understand us. We can love others while walking a different path. Loving them will be what sets us apart and reveals Christ to them.
Living Set Apart
According to 1 Peter 1:13, it begins by preparing our minds for action and knowing what God’s Word says. We grow in holiness by reading the Bible, memorizing Scripture, spending time with other believers, and praying for wisdom and guidance. God knows that we live in a world full of challenges, difficulties, and temptations, but He has given us the strength through His Spirit to resist temptation and the weakness of our flesh and live according to His truth. As we pursue Him, our lives bear fruit.
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Galatians 5":16-24
Intentional Pursuit
The pursuit of righteous, holy living is a day-by-day transformation. We grow more and more into the likeness and image of Christ when we spend time in His Word. With the wisdom we receive from it, we set boundaries that please the Lord, and then we rely on strength from Him to help us resist temptation as it comes our way —because, without a doubt, it will. And it is only through the power of Christ in us that we can resist these temptations of the flesh. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus provided a way for us to stand holy before God. We don’t deserve it and can’t work hard enough to earn it. It’s a free gift we receive when we become children of the One True King.
As Peter ends this passage, he reminds us, that as His Children of God, we are to pursue holiness on earth as a result of our eternal gain and not our temporary pleasures.
“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.” 1 Peter 1:22-25
The pursuit of holiness requires intentionality. Our goal is no longer to please our flesh or chase after temporary pleasures but to pursue holiness because of our eternal reward in Christ.
As His children, we are called to reflect His holiness on earth, not for our gain, but for the glory of the One who has redeemed us. In this, we find our true belonging—not in fitting in with the world, but in being set apart for God’s purposes. Though the things of this world will one day fade, "the word of the Lord remains forever."
Joyfully HIS,
Jennifer N. Pearson