“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked…”

Genesis 3:7

There’s a lot to be said about holiness. Growing up I had the concept that to be “holier than thou” was a negative thing. It wasn’t cool. If your actions in any way came across as “better than” anyone else’s, your name got added to some imaginary list of holy rollers, which usually included a shunning from all the really hip kids on campus. Their game wasn’t to be the baddest kid in school. Whether it was a choice of clothes, vocabulary, actions, experiences (chemical or otherwise), the game was more to push the envelope out just a tiny bit further than the status quo of what was currently acceptable, as long as the reaction solicited shock and outrage but not punishment, all for the approval of a select few. This made being holy wholly unacceptable. There was no peer pressure to be holy, only to be visually noticed.

I was amazed to find little difference in adulthood. Being taught what to think instead of how to think, kids at college would believe anything their professors told them, not realizing the professors themselves often led them all into playing the “push the envelope” game. If you wanted the best grades, you would bend your way of thinking to theirs. Later in the workplace, you are inundated with diversity and inclusion only to later learn the push is centered around equal outcomes, not equal opportunities. This meant that you could do everything right, be looked upon and recognized by peers as having a spirit of excellence with leadership qualities, and yet still be passed over time and time again because you were not the right color, gender, or perhaps you were not politically correct.

For the individual who is being led around by the nose, it’s the approval game. I have a bigger house. I have a larger income. I drive a faster car. I have the most important title. My kids are all perfect. Life is good. #Blessed!

We all want to be affirmed by those we love and admire. We want to hear from someone who we believe matters that we’re loved, that WE matter, and that we’re doing a good job, but it is so often at the expense of compromise. The titles and labels we give one another and approval we strive towards so often has nothing to do with the only one who really does matter: God Himself. Yet there are those who will likely never learn that genuine approval only comes from the Father, and salvation sets us free to be holy as HE is holy, which when you consider all the beauty and benefits that come with it, is a very cool thing indeed!

Have you ever thought about when Adam and Eve fell, it was only then that they realized they were naked? What might have kept them from seeing their nakedness before? At a bible study this past week we were invited to consider that it might be because prior to the fall, they were clothed in light. Understandably there is no one scripture that outright says this, but when one thinks of Moses and how his face glowed when he came down from the mountain, or descriptions we hear of angels, or Jesus on the mount of transfiguration (or Jesus as He is described in Revelation 1), then we glimpse how this might have been possible .

In this same study, our teacher shared with us a comparison between the Hebrew words light and skin:

The Hebrew word for light translates to “head connected to God“. The Hebrew word for skin translates to “head connected to eyes“. Let’s say for a moment that is the case, that they were clothed in light. In the verse I shared above (Genesis 3:7), it says “then the eyes of both of them were opened“. I’ve heard it said that the Hebrew letters & words for this translate to “their five senses were opened”. Hmmm…

The idea being conveyed in our study is that we were designed to live from the inside OUT, receiving all from our connection with God. Our soul (or our “mind, will, and emotions”) were designed to be filled with His light, NOT with our five senses! That was reversed after the fall, and we began living from the outside IN, receiving all from our senses (what we saw, heard, felt, smelled, tasted)… and the approval game began.

If you think about it, those who live by the Spirit and not by the flesh have a special aura about them. There is something that (though we can’t always put a finger directly on it) we sense is different and sets them apart from others. I believe it is because there was a shift on how they viewed holiness. They began to desire it! The more we say YES to the Holy Spirit’s transforming work in our lives, the more we desire to be like Him, too. Holiness is no longer something to be shunned. Oh to be holy as He is holy! Holiness is one of the most authentic and attractive things about a leader whom God has placed His hand upon, and it is developed out of an intimacy in relationship with Him.

Who are you leading today? Who is in your sphere of influence? What are they learning from you about holiness?