The Pursuit of Holiness

My wonderful grandmother and I have started reading The Pursuit of Holiness together. Although she lives in Bend, we have decided to call each other once a week after reading a chapter and to discuss it!
So I've decided, what a perfect opportunity to have a new blog post each week....
:)
So far we are on chapter two...
Let me share with all of you the three biggest things I've learned..
1)The first is that we are to pursue holiness, we will never reach it in this life and diligence and effort are required. Understanding this, it gives me more strength to know, yes I will fail, but I need to get back up and continue to fight.

2) GOD hates sin. He cannot tolerate it. Yes, I know this. Yet. I see how in my life, often I say "oh no. I sinned" not "oh no! I sinned against GOD!". I want to further understand that it is not simply a sin that has inconvenienced me but it is against God whom HATES sin,no matter how small I try to excuse it to be.

3)Because this by far is the biggest area in my life where I can see a desperate need to change, let me allow Mr. Bridges to explain it...

Many Christians have what we might call a 'cultural holiness.' They adapt to the character and behavior patterns of Christians around them. As the Christian culture around them is more or less holy, so these Christians are more or less holy. But God has not called us to be like those around us. He has called us to be like Himself. Holiness is nothing less than conformity to the character of God.

For me, I so often see how my dependence on people is not when I am with no-believers. There, I am the least dependent. Yet when I am with believers, I begin to want their approval. I start to conform to them instead of to God. Instead of wanting to change and be Holy for God, I want to do it for myself. It becomes "I have sinned" not "I have sinned against God". God has freed me from this slavery of pleasing people, yet I have ran back to it. Even when I see that a group of people are doing something God would not approve of, when I say something about it and others do not agree, I quickly put the thought away and say nothing more about it.I want to cultivate a heart that will be dependent on God and God alone. That it won't matter how I am seen by others or how I am treated. For I know that He is greater than all. I want to stop thinking so highly about myself and think higher of God who is Most High.