More Like Jesus: Reflections on Faithfulness and Holiness

Two important aspects of living our Christian faith on a daily basis are faithfulness and holiness. Being faithful means being firm and not changing in one’s commitments, principles, or beliefs. Faithfulness is the act of remaining loyal and true to one’s beliefs and steadfastly putting those beliefs into action. Holiness is purity or integrity of moral character. Holiness in believers refers to thinking, believing, and acting in alignment with God’s Word as found in Scripture. Following are quotations on these two topics.

Faithfulness

“The reward of being ‘faithful over a few things’ is just the same as being ‘faithful over many things’; for the emphasis falls upon the same word; it is the ‘faithful’ who will enter ‘into the joy of their Lord.’”—Charles S. Robinson

“Do daily and hourly your duty; do it patiently and thoroughly. Do it as it presents itself; do it at the moment, and let it be its own reward. Never mind whether it is known and acknowledged or not, but do not fail to do it.”—James H. Aughey

“Wait for the Lord. Behave yourself manfully, and be of good courage. Do not be faithless, but stay in your place and do not turn back.”—Thomas a Kempis

“Faithful servants never retire. You can retire from your career, but you will never retire from serving God.”—Rick Warren

“Many are called, few are chosen, but fewer still are faithful. These are the overcomers spoken of ten times in the book of Revelation. They are disciples of Jesus who have not only been accepted by God but who have been tested by Him through many circumstances and who have been approved by Him.”—Zac Poonen

“I know of nothing which I would choose to have as the subject of my ambition for life than to be kept faithful to my God till death, still to be a soul winner, still to be a true herald of the cross, and testify the name of Jesus to the last hour.”—Charles Spurgeon

“Faithful Christians make an otherwise unsavory world palatable to God.”—John Buttrick

“My calling from God is, ‘Be faithful’; my mission in life to be true,
And God will someday reward me for things He’s assigned me to do.”—Greta Zwaan

“We will not naturally drift into becoming faithful disciples, husbands, and fathers. We must be intentional!”—Jerrad Lopes

“You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.”—Matthew 25:21 NIV

“The test for all of us who have been called by God to preach the Word is to do so faithfully and with a heart full of love for God, for believers, and for the lost.”—Dan Delzell

“You will be blessed for your faithfulness. You will be rewarded for your commitment. There is no greater reward than for you to hear the Lord say, ‘well done.’”—Carl Mathis

“If you be faithful, you will have that honor that comes from God: His Spirit will say in your hearts, ‘Well done, good and faithful servants.’”—Adam Clarke

“We are not here to be successful, we are here to be faithful.”—Mother Teresa

“You have to be faithful in little before you are entrusted with much.”—Daniel Brown

“Being faithful in the smallest things is the way to gain, maintain, and demonstrate the strength needed to accomplish something great.”—Alex Harris

“Don’t worry about being effective. Just concentrate on being faithful to the truth.”—Dorothy Day

“A little thing is a little thing, but faithfulness in little things is a great thing.”—James Hudson Taylor

Holiness

“Holiness, as taught in the Scriptures, is not based upon knowledge on our part. Rather, it is based upon the resurrected Christ in-dwelling us and changing us into His likeness.”―A. W. Tozer

“Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing in God’s judgment, hating what He hates, loving what He loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word.”—J. C. Ryle

“If we comprehend what Christ has done for us, then surely out of gratitude we will strive to live ‘worthy’ of such great love. We will strive for holiness not to make God love us but because He already does.”—Philip Yancey

“True holiness isn’t cold and deadening—it’s warm and inviting. It’s irresistible. Those who think otherwise have never seen it, but only its caricatures.”—Nancy Leigh DeMoss

“Holiness is not a merit by which we can attain communion with God, but a gift of Christ, which enables us to cling to Him, and to follow Him.”—John Calvin

“Nowhere can we get to know the holiness of God, and come under its influence and power, except in the inner chamber. It has been well said: ‘No man can expect to make progress in holiness who is not often and long alone with God.’”—Andrew Murray

“Holiness does not consist in doing extraordinary things. It consists in accepting, with a smile, what Jesus sends us. It consists in accepting and following the will of God.”—Mother Teresa

“The foundation of true holiness and true Christian worship is the doctrine of the gospel, what we are to believe. So when Christian doctrine is neglected, forsaken, or corrupted, true holiness and worship will also be neglected, forsaken, and corrupted.”—John Owen

“Many people think we become holy by the eradication of something evil within. No, we become holy by being separated unto God.”—Watchman Nee

“If you want to be holy, be kind.”—Frederick Buechner

“Give up the struggle and the fight; relax in the omnipotence of the Lord Jesus; look up into His lovely face and as you behold Him, He will transform you into His likeness. You do the beholding—He does the transforming. There is no shortcut to holiness.”—Alan Redpath

“Holiness is an unselfing of ourselves.”—Frederick W. Faber

“Holiness consists of three things—separation from sin, dedication to God, transformation into Christ’s image. It is in vain that we talk about the last, unless we know something experimentally about the first.”—James H. Aughey

“To sanctify God is to reverence Him in our hearts, and to represent Him in the glory of His holiness before men.”—Richard Alleine

“A holy act strengthens the inward holiness. It is a seed of life growing into more life.”—Frederick W. Robertson

“Thou must be righteous and holy before thou canst live righteously and holily.”—William Gurnall

“The greatest test of whether the holiness we profess to seek or to attain is truth and life will be whether it produces an increasing humility in us. In man, humility is the one thing needed to allow God’s holiness to dwell in him and shine through him. The chief mark of counterfeit holiness is lack of humility. The holiest will be the humblest.”—Andrew Murray, paraphrased

“If you think you can walk in holiness without keeping up perpetual fellowship with Christ, you have made a great mistake. If you would be holy, you must live close to Jesus.”—Charles Spurgeon

“You are not sent to preach death and sin and judgment, but life and holiness and salvation—not to be a witness against the people, but to be a witness for God—to preach the good news—Christ Himself.”—James Hudson Taylor

“In order to live a life of holiness, we must first receive new life from God—we must be born from above.”—J. Vernon McGee

“Nothing whatever pertaining to godliness and real holiness can be accomplished without grace.”—St. Augustine

“I cannot see how any man deserves to be called ‘holy,’ who willfully allows himself in sins, and is not humbled and ashamed because of them.”—J. C. Ryle

“Say not that thou hast royal blood in thy veins and art born of God, unless thou canst prove thy pedigree by daring to be holy.”—William Gurnall

“Holiness, not happiness, is the chief end of man.”—Oswald Chambers

“Whatever ‘call’ a man may pretend to have, if he has not been called to holiness, he certainly has not been called to the ministry.”—Charles Spurgeon

“Christian holiness is not a matter of painstaking conformity to the individual precepts of an external law code; it is rather a question of the Holy Spirit’s producing His fruit in the life, reproducing those graces which were seen in perfection in the life of Christ.”—F. F. Bruce

“Holiness of heart and life. This is not the perfection of the human nature, but the holiness of the divine nature dwelling within.”—A. B. Simpson

“Without holiness on earth we shall never be prepared to enjoy heaven. Heaven is a holy place. The Lord of heaven is a holy Being. The angels are holy creatures. Holiness is written on everything in heaven. ... How shall we ever be at home and happy in heaven if we die unholy?”—J. C. Ryle

“Remember that holiness is not the way to Christ, but Christ is the way to holiness.”—James H. Aughey

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Note

Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptures are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.