The average number of days before someone breaks their New Year’s resolution is 12 days. The percentage of gym memberships which go unused is 67%. The average diet for a woman lasts 5 weeks, 2 days 43 minutes. Our resolutions are generally good, and eating right and exercising regularly everyone knows is a good thing. The problem is not in the diet or the exercise, the problem lies within us. We lack the ability to follow and maintain that which we know is good. As we go through God's law, we must reflect on it and agree that it is indeed good. This is so important as we go through the Scriptures, in that we must come to the conclusion that He and His law are good, and as opposed to what the world believes, we simply are not inherently good. Paul couldn’t have stated this any clearer in Romans 3:10-12, "There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." For any who want to believe that was before our acceptance of Christ, Paul goes on in Romans 7:18, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present in me, but how to perform what is good I do not find." When we fail to live up to our own measure of goodness, which we do daily, many will conclude that it is okay because God knows our heart. To this we must remember the words in Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?" These verses are not meant to make us feel bad, but to realize that we lack the strength in ourselves. Unless, we realize that we are condemned by our own goodness, we will never seek our solution, the holiness that is attained by Jesus Christ, our Messiah, and in Him alone. He is the only answer to live a victorious life, based on His goodness, and His holiness, which flows through us.

We read in Leviticus 19:1-2, "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: 'You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." To be holy is twofold. To be holy means we are "set apart for honorable use." This being set apart is not based on our own works done by us in our own righteousness, but we read in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." As a result, may we respond accordingly as written in Romans 12:2, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." This may sound good and makes sense theologically, but holiness does not end when we come to Christ. We must take that which is the theological and actively pursue a practical holiness which we live out day to day. We read this in 1 Peter 1:13-16, "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "be holy, for I am holy." This practical holiness can be a frustrating process because as we read in Galatians 5:16-17, "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."

The reality is we all fail daily to measure up to the holiness that God has called us to. That is where God's mercy and grace come in. He doesn't want us walking around like deflated failures. We go to sleep and wake up and the process starts again. The problem lies whenever anyone justifies unholiness and makes excuses as to why unholiness is acceptable. Abortion was practiced in the sacrifice to Molech in this pagan sexual society which made the disposal of unwanted children easy (Leviticus 19:4, 20:1-5). Many reading this have either had abortions or took part in them. Forgiveness is one prayer away. But we cannot justify the abortion by justifying it on the basis of how one's life would have been ruined, how one's career would have been ruined, how one would not have been able to finish college, etc. Homosexuality is clearly spoken against in Leviticus 18:22, 20:13. Again, forgiveness is one prayer away. But this cannot be explained away with comments like "this is how I was made", or "this is the only way I would be happy in life". The law goes through almost every permutation of sexual variation in Leviticus 18 and 20:10-21, and each one other than the union of a man and woman in marriage is not allowed. To make excuses like, but we are in love, etc. is justifying the flesh. The law is indeed good. The problem lies not with the law, but with us, because we are not innately good. As God said, "be holy, for I am holy". We are not to try to assimilate but to be set apart.

When we fail, and we all will, we should never become despondent, God already knows our weaknesses. But we will experience so much more peace when we stop striving in our own strength and realize the strength that resides in us, the power of the Holy Spirit.