The Mirror at the End of the Altar

D.L. Moody once said that every time he read the Bible, he found himself looking into a mirror — and the reflection was never flattering. That image comes to mind when I read 1 Peter 1:15-16, where God speaks plainly across the centuries: "Be holy, because I am holy."

For the born-again believer, holiness is not a ladder we climb by moral effort. It is a family resemblance. When Peter quotes Leviticus and sets it before these scattered, suffering Christians, he is not giving them a checklist — he is reminding them whose blood runs in their veins now. They have been redeemed, verse 18 tells us, "not with perishable things such as silver or gold," but with the precious blood of Christ. That changes everything about who you are and how you live.

Billy Graham used to say that salvation is a transaction, but sanctification is a walk. You do not work for holiness to earn God's favor. You walk in holiness because you already have it — in Christ.

Think of a child who has been adopted into a good and honorable family. Over time, those who know the family begin to say, "She has her father's eyes. She has her mother's laugh." That is the testimony God is calling out of your life.

The pastoral question is this: When people watch you this week — at work, at home, in traffic — do they see any family resemblance to the God who called you?