With winsome prose, gentle humor, vulnerability, and a keen eye for emotional and spiritual realities, author Karen Stiller invites Christians to reflect on what holiness looks like in their lives.
Stiller notes that “holiness has a public relations problem, even within the church. Being holy is deeply associated in our culture with being a pain in the butt rather than a balm to the soul. Attach the word holy to a person, and even in our very best moments we are more likely to imagine them being insufferable or so different from us.”
Stiller explains that we are loved by God, and anyone who comes to Jesus in repentance will be saved. However, God doesn’t leave us as we are. God leads us on the path of consecration. Stiller adds, “Consecration is the ship that slides into the ocean after repentance and then sails away on gentle waters and through storms at sea. It is the journey into holiness.”
As Stiller explores topics such as money, hospitality, humility, beauty, church, remembering, and sorrow, she asks, “How do we know when we are changing, and if we are living out of our holiness?” Stiller is quick to reassure readers that “holiness is not a straight line. It can look more like a scribble on a piece of paper.” She emphasizes that holiness is not legalism. Rather it “is a gift we receive, but also one we give back every day.”
Peppered with poignant, funny, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking anecdotes from Stiller’s life as a minister’s wife and as a woman trying to walk daily and closely with Jesus, this book is a combination of memoir and spiritual reflection with the goal of growth in holiness. Discussion questions for individual or group study are included.
(NavPress)
About the Author
Sonya VanderVeen Feddema is a freelance writer and a member of Covenant CRC in St. Catharines, Ontario.