All right, on to the most important thing we're here to do, God's Word. Turn in your Bible to 1 Peter 1. We're gonna be in verses 14 to 16 this morning. I am excited to dive into this text with you. If you got a Bible from the ushers, that's page 1116. I'm Kosti, I am one of the pastors here. And every time I preach, we go in 1 Peter. That's the series we're in called Heading Home. And whenever John preaches, we're in Titus. And so you're getting like a double-edged sword, two books of the New Testament, growing and loving it. And then if you're not aware, we've got equip classes and many other opportunities to grow in different books of the Bible. So take advantage of all of those. But here and now, 1 Peter 1. If you will, stand with me and let's read God's word together. Peter writes, 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. Stay standing, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we come to you expectant, trusting in faith that you are going to teach us and guide us in your word. We wanna make much of Christ and the way we're to live for him and through him, and we ask that when we walk out the doors today, that's what we would think about, that we have a high calling, we have a high and mighty king, and that we ought to and should and look forward to live for him. I lift up, as always, ministry that's happening throughout the valley, and instead of just praying for one pastor today, I just want to put every pastor and every church in the valley before you. The reason for that is we are praying and asking that there would be an awakening in the valley. We want that. The church needs it. Our community, our county, the state, really the country and the world need it. And so on this particular Sunday, we lift up the entire valley to you asking that you would move powerfully through the preachers right now and all morning that have been giving your word to your people. And also you would breed a deep hunger in your people to really demand that the word be preached. Use us to be your hands and feet, move in our hearts. May this be a place that literally millions of people move to in the future because it's a place where your name is made great and they can grow in that truth. We pray this in Christ's name, amen. So when I say the word holiness or I bring up the concept of holiness, what comes to mind? For every person, I know that there'll be an image or ideas or words that will start to come to mind. If I bring up the concept or the subject of holiness. Maybe you think of a monk in a monastery by candlelight, you know, writing, and it's dingy, and there's a small window, and he's a very contrite and introspective individual. Maybe you think of organ music, you know, an old organ, and deep southern prayers by an old fundamentalist preacher saying, you know, yo, let's say the Lord, you know, real holy type of guy. Real spiritual. Maybe you think of religious chants, or repetitive phrases, or a priest, a Greek Orthodox maybe background if you have that. You know, walking the aisles and swinging the chain of incense. Maybe the smell comes to mind when I bring up the idea of holiness. I like sometimes to see what secular writers and authors or speakers think of Christian concepts. One in particular, John White, writes about the images that come to mind when the subject of holiness comes up. It's quite a list. He says thinness, I guess from not eating. Hollow-eyed gauntness. Beards. Sandals. Long robes, stone cells, no sex, no jokes, frequent cold baths, fasting, hours of prayer, wild rocky deserts, getting up at 4 a.m., clean fingernails for some reason, stained glass, which makes sense, and then self-humiliation. which would be like asceticism, the idea that I punish myself if I think a bad thought, or if I'm tempted by something, or if I want chocolate cake, or I want to go to the movies. The old fundamentalist idea, not the good fundamentals, not like in baseball or sports, the fundamentals. You take ground balls, you take batting practice. extreme fundamentalism where the idea of holiness was, you know, you don't wear earrings, you don't wear makeup, you don't go to the movies, you don't even listen to classical music because, you know, it's secular. All of that, the world thinks that holiness is this idea that you're off in a monastery somewhere. That's what it means to be a Christian. I think, as Americans, we run from this idea. We think that a sermon on holiness is gonna ruin the party. It's not gonna be as fun to be a Christian. But I love what Chuck Colson says. He puts it this way and put it this way. Holiness is the everyday business of every Christian. It evidences itself in the decisions we make and things we do, hour by hour, day by day. See, holiness isn't about living in a monastery. It's not about not doing this or dressing this way or doing this and that. Holiness is a way of life. It's about the decisions that you make. the way that you carry yourself in each day, each moment. But when we studied verse 13, Peter made it clear that for a believer who hopes in the gospel and hopes in the coming of Christ, we ought to think a certain way, have a mind that's ready for the coming of Christ. And now in verses 14 to 16, he clearly states that we should live a certain way. There is a way that a Christian is to live. Because of the gospel, we aren't hopeless people. Because of the gospel, our hope is anchored to Christ and to heaven. And while this life has amazing purposes and it's gonna be a great thing to enjoy and God wants you certainly to rejoice in all that he's given, we're ultimately heading home. We're ultimately not from here. We're ultimately just passing through on our way to the ultimate destination and along the way we're called to live for his glory and do some pretty important things as his instruments of ministry or of righteousness to the world. And so Peter starts with a label. Look at it with me, the first three words, as obedient children. Using just three words, Peter describes what volumes have been written about. As obedient children, that's a label, it's not a command. It's a familial phrase, so there's something very clear here that he wants his readers to see, and I certainly want you to see. This is, in direct contrast to the way other people would live who aren't in the family of God. He calls believers obedient children, and if you look up at the screens for a moment or at a cross-reference with me, Ephesians 2.2 says what other people are called, those who are not following after God. Ephesians 2.2 says, and you were dead in your trespasses and sins which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in thee, sons of disobedience. There's a contrast. When he says, as obedient children, there's a lot more that he isn't saying. He isn't saying this, but it's there. That the way I'm describing you right now, Christian, is in direct contrast to the way that we would describe unbelievers, sons of disobedience, children of wrath. He's saying, you're not that, you're this. I think sometimes that we would come to a study like this on holiness and we hear or read into what God is really not saying. We hear a tone that's not there, we hear words that are not there. We hear holiness or we look at this and we think, oh, this is angry cosmic abuser, angry father in heaven saying you better be obedient or else. If you don't follow, I'm gonna really punish you. But that's not the tone here at all. See, you were sons of disobedience. Now you're called obedient children. It's a label. And so I want you to hear the tone of everything we study through the tone of a story like in John chapter eight you might be familiar with. Anybody remember when the Pharisees caught a woman sleeping around? And they bring Jesus over. And he was in the temple that morning, and he walks over, and they say, hey, we found this woman in adultery. We really caught her. We're gonna kill her like the law says we can. Moses said we could. What say you, Jesus? And they're trying to trap him, you know, thinking Jesus has gone soft, we're gonna get him. And Jesus does what he always did with the Pharisees. He throws them a big old curveball that they can't hit. And he says, let he without sin cast the first stone. And the woman is there. And as the story goes, Jesus says, you know, where are they? Where are your accusers, woman? And she suddenly looks up and they're gone. And he basically shows her, yeah, they're not around. Nobody's here to condemn you. And then he says to her, neither do I condemn you. Now go and live however you want. Now go and sleep around some more. No, go and sin no more. It's a beautiful picture of grace and truth. That's the driving force behind this particular passage. God's not saying, you better be obedient or I'm gonna kill you. It's fire and brimstone. No, he's saying, come on, you used to be a son of disobedience. You used to do it the world's way. Now, come on, child, we're gonna do this my way. Come on and sin no more as one of mine. And that's what Peter gets at in that phrase, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. That's the command, but it's a command that is rooted in love. God has called you to be his child. You go a new direction. When you didn't know the truth and you were in ignorance, how many of you know you just kinda did whatever you merry well wanted? You lived how you wanted, drank how you wanted, ate how you wanted, related with others how you wanted, spoke how you wanted, worked how you wanted, cheated how you wanted, and then Christ came in and you became part of the family. Peter wants you, and of course the original audience, to understand there's a huge difference between the B.C. days and the A.D. days. B.C. before Christ, A.D. after death. After you died and Christ rose, really, you rose to new life in Christ, which tells us something very important about Peter's definition of Christianity. There's no concept in this letter. really anywhere in the New Testament, for a concept of Christianity where you say you're a Christian, but your actions don't follow your words. If you're part of God's family, people are gonna know who you are. 1 Thessalonians 4, 5 identifies those who give into their passions and their sin without restraint as Gentiles who, quote, do not know God. James 1, 21 to 22 says, put away filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls, but be doers of the word, not hearers who delude themselves. over and over and over. If we're gonna talk about holiness, we need to understand that there is no concept of Christian conduct or Christian living that is divorced from actually doing what you say you believe. I wonder how many of us have this concept confused, that we think Christianity is just coming to church, or we think hoping in God is hoping in a God who's just gonna save everybody and it's all gonna be okay, or we can live how we want and say that we're a Christian. And how do you know if that's you? How do you know if you struggle with that concept? Well, it's pretty simple. Do you get really uncomfortable when we come to long sections of the text or very clear sections of the biblical text and they press in on you over and over and over again with this reality that anyone who is a true child of God will live for God? If that idea makes you uncomfortable, If you come into church and you love the weeks where it's woo, you're good, go out for brunch, we'll see you next week, don't forget to give on your way out. Like if that's your version of church and then it comes to stuff like this and you go, man, that's really mean. I don't like the way that feels. I don't like this church. Why are you always pushing? Well, we're not pushing, God's word is pushing and your qualm is with him. That would be indicative. of a version of Christianity that you've bought into that is actually a lie. When we are truly walking with an understanding of God as our Father, how many of you know we want to follow the Father? This week, my oldest son and I were packing for Shepherd's Conference. We, as a team, went to this pastor's conference in California. My son and I had enjoyed some great fellowship that day. It was Thursday, and how many of you know a qualification of an elder is that we manage our household well? I don't just go home, we all as pastors don't just go home at the end of the day for, you know, the last hour of the day, and it's like, oh, hey, guys, good to see you at dinner, glad you cooked, honey, thanks a lot. Well, I got work to do, see ya, it's been good to see y'all. Obviously, the church is really important, so y'all will get to heaven, because I'm a pastor, so we'll be fine, see you tomorrow. That's not the way that it works, right? You gotta father, you gotta manage your household. That's part of the job description. In fact, you should fire us if we don't do a good job with that. And so thankfully, our team does. Well, on this particular day, like I meet with many members, I had a lunch meeting with Titus, my five-year-old. And we went to Panda Express. And he was enjoying his fried rice and his teriyaki chicken. And I thought I'd be real clever as a dad. I was like, I'm gonna really draw out his heart. And so I started asking him questions, and I said to him, you know, what are you most excited about? And all of that. And I put the phone away, and it was just him and I. And at one point, I thought I was really gonna get a great answer from him. So I'm like, I'm gonna draw his heart out, dad of the year, I'm gonna really find out where my son's at. And so I go, son, you know, what's something you're really afraid of? You know, like, thinking I'm smart. And he looks at me as candid as ever in the middle of a bite and says, being eaten by a lion? And how many of you dads know you don't patronize, right? You wanna win the kid's heart and get there. So I look back at him and I go, me too. Definitely, definitely a scary thing. And so, you know, we're bonding and talking and later that night we're packing and so we've had this great day and I'm feeling good about myself and doing good as a dad and spent some time with my boy and I'm drawing out his heart and scared of lions right now, okay. And we're going up the stairs and he says to me, dad, I want to follow you wherever you go. And I thought, But he kept going, he says like a lot, now everything's like. And he goes, like, like, like wherever you put your feet, I'm gonna put mine. I'm just gonna do what you do. And at that point, I'm standing there, I stop on the landing and I said, well I better be careful how I walk then, huh son, since you're following me everywhere I go. And he just said as candid, yup, and he kept on walking past me. And I stood there on the stairs, I kid you not, church, more convicted than I've been in so long. If my five-year-old, for now, I know it changes when they're teenagers, but for now, wants to follow me, I'm sinful, I'm limited, I'm finite, I'm gonna fail him, I already have failed him, if he wants to follow me, How much more inclined should I be and we be to follow our Father in heaven, who's perfect, who's never sinned, who is limitless? I was standing there that day and I was struck with the thought, Father, I'm sorry. Help me to act like a five-year-old, really, in this regard, to have the heart of a child willing to follow you. You're perfect. Your dad, your Abba, you're the one who's running the show here. Help me to be willing to follow you that way. If we're gonna live holy lives, we must, point number one, remember who we belong to. You need to remember who you belong to. You're a child of the Father, a perfect father. No matter how your earthly father failed, Abba Father, Yahweh, the God of the universe has called you obedient child. One of his own. Part of the family. David Helms says, understanding God as your father will be pivotal to your ability to live as a worthy member of his family. Some of you struggle with holiness, and yeah, I know you got some behavioral issues that need transforming, but I would say, first, your heart, your mindset needs to be transformed. Sometimes we don't see ourselves as a child of God. We forget who our father is, we forget who we belong to, and therefore we fail to live as a member of the family. J.I. Packer says, if you wanna judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child and having God as his father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means he does not understand Christianity very well at all. Father is the Christian's name for God. You're God's children. You don't belong to the world. You don't belong to yourself. He's perfect. You are his, he is yours. He's worthy of following, worthy of revering. And he is the model for your holiness. Peter goes on and says, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Now I don't know about you, but there's a couple of words there that arrest me where I stand. Be holy. So I know there's a command. and then in all your conduct. And right away, if you're like me, you're thinking, that's impossible. All, every single way I'm supposed to be perfect like God, that's impossible. I'm not God. What are you saying? So before you jump to conclusions, I wanna take you on a brief tour, and these will be very helpful points for you, to give you some perspective on holiness. When we talk about holiness or righteousness or perfection in scripture, you and I need to understand what category, if you will, of holiness is being referenced. The first type of holiness you should understand, is the divine position of God. The divine position of God. You can write these down if you'd like. The divine position of God is this. It's his attribute, his set apartness. No one can be like him. No one can be perfect as him. No one can be holy like him in the sense that he's Yahweh, he's God. You're never gonna be God. Even when you go to heaven and you're glorified and it's awesome and you see the fulfillment of your faith and your hope, you're not the one on the throne. You're never gonna be set apart like that in that sense, even when you're glorified, and so we need to understand the divine position of God. This text is not commanding you to be God or a little God. It is the position of God, certainly, that makes him holy. It's one of his attributes. The second thing you should understand is the divine perfection of Christ. There is a big difference between his sinless life and your sinful life. He came to earth, he was tempted, never sinned, Not once in thought, in word or deed. His perfection is divine. And that's the perfection that God the Father sees on you, but not because of you, because of Christ. You could call this the imputed righteousness of Christ, if you will. It's a righteousness that's been imputed or credited to you because of faith. That's where you get the phrase justified by faith, justification. You're in right standing with God. He doesn't see you as a wretched little sinner, a worm in the dirt. He sees you as a saint. But how many of you know that even starting this morning, probably even five minutes ago, you ain't no saint. But because of Christ, you are. That's the divine perfection of Jesus. It's the divine perfection that we all need to have. His perfection ensures our position, but make no mistake about it, it's His. That is the work that was done on the cross. First Corinthians one, Paul is making sure nobody at Corinth gets cocky. They were boasting about their position, boasting about this, boasting about that. And in verse 29 to 31, he goes, no one can boast in the presence of God. Because of Him, you're in Christ. Christ became wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, so really across the board. Righteousness, your set-apartness, your holiness, and even your salvation, all of it, from God, for God, through God, in Christ, so let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. That's the divine perfection of Christ. Well, what Peter is getting at here, the command, be holy as I am holy, is the third thing you need to understand about holiness, and that is it's the daily pursuit of a Christian. The kind of holiness he's calling you to is a life set apart. That is different conduct, that is different speech, that is different financial management, that is different parenting, different marrying and marital relating all across the board. This is a command in all areas of your life to mirror or model God's set apartness. Just like God is like no one else, living like no one else, leading like no one else, you're to model after your father what that looks like on earth as a human being. You're to live like no one else. I'll put this in today's vernacular, you're to be weird. People are supposed to look at you and think they're kind of normal. Then there's the Christian thing. They're real religious. You know all that stuff, this, whatever. I don't know what it is. They go to that church over there called Redeemer. Sweet people, though. They're so nice. They're really normal. You'd think they're normal. They just go to that church thing. I don't know what they do on Sunday. That's a good way to get ID'd. If someone says that about you, you ought to feel like you've been complimented with the highest compliment. Nobody should look at your life and say, they're a Christian? They live, talk, act, work. relate like me. I guess it doesn't really take anything to be a Christian. You don't really give anything up. They're just like me, so I guess I'm good too. I don't really need to do the Jesus thing. I can save a whole lot more money than those people, because they act like I do, but they keep giving their money to church. I'm going to have at least another few K on my annual budget, because I'm not going to give to those weird guys with the priests and the robes, and I don't need to don the doors of a church. I don't even know what goes on in there. I'm fine. If there's nothing transformative about your life or mine, What is the big deal about Christianity? Peter is getting at something very important, that you and I belong to the family of God. We best look like the family of God. You got any friends that are Greek? I get Middle Eastern family. And believe me, some of you come over, you're gonna know that you ain't at your family's house. People kissing each other and hugging each other. We're really loud. Everybody's eating, and then they're eating again and again and again, and then if you're depressed, they eat more, and it's like, oh, you're struggling in life. You just need to eat. Like, every problem is a food problem. That's the family I come from. You'll know when you're with my family. Some of you are Italian. I'll know when I'm at your house. It's pretty obvious who the Italians are in the room. Because you look, act, talk, eat, you cook like an Italian. Everybody wants to come to your house for dinner. Everybody knows where the Italians are. Peter's saying, people ought to know where to find you. They ought to know who you are. And I think there's two reasons for this. One is believers are the mirror, if you will, to the sin of the world. People should feel convicted when they see your life. There's that. We call that the dark side, right? It's the intense part of being a Christian. The fact that you love your wife a certain way makes your buddies feel like a really bad husband. That's okay. That's good guilt. How many of you know that's good guilt? When something is wrong, it needs to be made right. There's that. You're the mirror for the world to see the way you live and say, Maybe that's why I'm having so many problems. Maybe that's why my husband doesn't like me, or my wife doesn't want to be around me, or my boss, this is the fourth job I've had in two years, I keep getting fired. Maybe I should be honest like that guy. But there's another reason. It's the light side. They see that and they say, that's what's been missing. and suddenly you understand what he says about your former ignorance. How many of you know that before you met the Lord, some of you just didn't know any better? No one had ever taught you certain things. That's why you come to church sometimes. You cry, I never heard that before. I'm gonna change. That's because you're seeing the light side. It's not just, hey, your bad things are wrong, there's pain. It's also, here's the solution. God wants you to live different and be different and be set apart because you are his instruments of salvation to the world. He is using you for a mighty purpose. The word call there, kaleo, it's a strong summons. Your father is saying, child, our family does it different. We pursue a different way of life in our actions and even our reactions. the way that we handle ourselves is different. And this is God's character across the board in the Bible. In the Old Testament, the book of Leviticus, Leviticus 11, 39 to 45, we're not gonna have time to take a deep dive there, but you can later, and it's in your cross-references, this is God's pattern with Israel. If you've ever wondered why in the annual reading plan, in the world, someone would have you read Leviticus, like some of you are going, oh, for the next two months, I don't know what to do with all this. Leviticus. is a mighty monument, if you will, to the character of God. Two ways you would apply Leviticus is this. Number one, you go, thank God we're not under the law. Jesus, I'm really glad you came. I'm thankful for the new covenant, your blood, I'm in that. Woo, I'm really glad. Because you would have died six different times for things you should have and should have not done. Clothes you wear, you wear the wrong colors and you're done. So that is one application of the book of Leviticus. Here's another one. God, thank you for being consistent. God has always been the same. Now you're not Israel and you have not replaced Israel. We're in the church, but God with his people and those that he saves throughout all time has always been the same. There's no curve balls with God. There's no aha surprise. He's changing. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He has always required his people to live differently. So why are we so surprised? That's just who he is. He told them to eat different, dress different, marry different, live different, talk different, worship different, all of it across the board. And yes, the law is not what we are under in that sense, but in the new covenant, he's still saying, you trust, you obey, you follow my way, that's how everyone will know that you're one of mine. The pursuit of holy conduct is everywhere, especially in the letter of 1 Peter, From verse 13 on, you're to focus on Christ's coming. Live right, fear God, love others. In chapter two, you put away sin, you long for the word, you live honorably, you submit to authority, and you suffer faithfully. In chapter three, you must respect your husband. You best be sensitive to your wife or God's not hearing your prayers. You gotta live in unity with others. Refuse to take revenge and honor Christ. In chapter four, You gotta live for God's will, serve with your gifts, suffer some more, and trust the Lord. And in chapter five, elders must be exemplary as shepherds or they fail to attain the standard of God for church leaders. We as people, in turn, are subject to qualified elders. We are all clothed in humility. We give God our anxiety, we resist the devil, and we look forward in faith to the coming of the new Jerusalem and the destruction of Babylon. We look forward to the day of the Lord. over and over and over and over again in this letter and beyond, that is God's call, so get used to it, you're weird, that's Christianity, we're called to be different. And so you gotta ask yourselves some things and take inventory of your life. Why do you talk the way you do? Why do you go to the places you go? Why do you spend what you spend? Why do you love what you love? If someone were to spend 24 hours with you, what would they see? If they got to see every text, your work ethic, every expense you reported, the way you plan, the way you lead. If they got to go on date night with you and your wife, is there a date night with you and your wife? If they got to hang with you and your kids, what's a meal like at your table at night? What is night like before bed in your home? Would someone see that you're a Christian and think there's something different going on here before we put our heads down to sleep? Or is it just another run of the mill evening where you just go through the motions? How do you scroll, what do we watch? These are questions that Christian asks, not to be guilt-ridden or shameful, but because we're constantly taking inventory of our life, reassessing our loves, our affections, saying, God, Father, do I look like you? I'm supposed to be following you. I gotta make sure I'm putting my feet where you're going. And so to really understand what it means to be holy, you need to, point number two, realize that you've been set apart. Realize that you've been set apart. Charles Spurgeon says, Christian men and women are not to be used for anything but God. Strong words. They're a set apart people, vessels of mercy. They're not for the devil's use, they're not for their own use, they're not for the world's use, but they are for their master's use. He has made them on purpose to be used entirely and solely and wholly for him. Oh, Christian people. Be holy for Christ is holy. Do not pollute that holy name wherewith you are named. Let your family life, your personal life, your business life be as holy as Christ your Lord would have it be. Shall saints be shams when sinners are so real? Isn't that beautiful? Should we be fake, phony people hiding our faith when the world is so honest and transparent about theirs? You know, I think some of you need to turn the volume up on your life. Live a little louder for the Lord. Let people know unashamedly that you are a child of God. The world is unashamed. They lobby politicians, they run around doing as they please, they post it, they sing it, they market it, they sell it. How much more should we, as children of the God who created every molecule in the universe, be loud and proud and joyous to live like a member of the family? Realize that you've been set apart. There's one more phrase that I want to bring your attention to in closing, and it's verse 16. Peter says, since it is written, you shall be holy, for I'm holy. Now, I don't want you to miss this, because Peter doesn't want you to miss this. He has pointed back to that text that I brought up in Leviticus for a specific reason. This is the part that presses in on the inner rebel in every one of us. It's the because I said so. Oh, God loves you. Oh, he saved you. You're part of the family. You're set apart, and guess what? Because he said so. I think Peter has spent long enough explaining the gospel, the inheritance in heaven, the riches and glories of Christ, the mercy you've been shown. Y'all should be smiling by now, and guess what? Time to live it. The kindness of God does motivate us towards obedience, but how many of you know that as children, There's a time to come to the realization or get the reminder that you're a child of the Father, but how many know, a lot of times in life, we're on the edge of the curb, the traffic is going, and Dad says, stop, and it's not time to debate. This isn't a discussion. There's no other road here. This isn't a gray area in Scripture. There's a few of those, and God's got a wide reach on Christian liberty. But there are times in the Bible where we are told because he said so. And for many of you, that's good enough, that's great. But for some of us in the room, these are the passages that chisel away at our hard hearts, and God wants them for us just as much as any other passage, because he is doing work on you, creating and shaping his masterpiece, and yes, that includes crushing your rebellion. But even law comes with love. 1 John 5, two through three says, by this we know that we love the children of God. When we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. Obedience is rooted in love. And so really what we are saying when we debate God, or we rebel against God, or we have a problem with His, I said so, this is what's best. I'm the father, you're the child. I decree and you obey. When we're having a problem with that, the real issue is an issue of trust. A life of holiness is evidenced through a life of obedience. A life of obedience is rooted in a life of love, And the ultimate expression of love is not to just say, I love you, it's to say, I trust you. See, I don't know about you, but I don't wanna be loved. I don't care if I'm loved, I just wanna be trusted. Because I know that if I have someone's trust, I have their love. With God, we have to ask ourselves, do we trust him? Do we have the kind of heart that says, I know you saved me, I know you've gifted me, I know you love me. All that is there, all that is set and sealed, so now I just need you to speak the word, Father. You're the God of the world, I just wanna line up and I wanna fulfill my duty for you, in you, through you. Tell me whatever you wanna tell me. I'll go wherever you go, I'll do whatever you say to do. I just wanna follow you wherever you go. That's where holiness begins. It's not about monks and monasteries, not about being perfect. It's about remembering who you belong to, realizing that you've been set apart and then simply saying, like the old hymn, I'm gonna trust and obey. Because there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.