Delores Liesner
Activating Faith in everyday life
Called to be A Cut Above!
What is A Cut Above? 
1Peter 1:15 – like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;
Draw near and desire
The primary meaning of holy is ‘separate.’ It comes from an ancient word that meant, ‘to cut,’ or ‘to separate.’ A more detailed rendering is the phrase ‘a cut above (something).’ When we find a garment or another piece of merchandise that is outstanding, that has a superior excellence, we use the expression that it is ‘a cut above the rest.” R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 1985), p. 54.
Meditate on it:
- How have those who ministered to you conducted themselves in relationship with you? How did the actions of those you admire in the faith define them as “separate” or different?
- How have they conducted themselves in the world? Are they “a cut above?”
Activate it – Be means to abide, to stand, to choose to stay firm and continue with (Holiness) Synonyms: accept, acknowledge, consent, defer, endure, live with, receive
- In what ways can you be a cut above the world’s standards?
- What keeps you from conducting yourself with holiness?
Purpose it: (Commit) Lev. 20:7 “Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.
Practice it: 
Heb. 12:14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
1Pet. 1:15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do
What is holiness? – Phil. 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.
How can there be holiness in the world? Instead of compromising or accepting commonality
Putting on holiness will Put Off? ( Resist/Repel) 
- Impurity
- Compromise
- Ordinariness(no distinction from the world)
Replace it – Put on Holiness throughout the day:
Prayerfully commit to stand – to “abide” (to stay firm and continue) in God’s holiness today. In Hebrew the opposite of holiness is hol, meaning everyday, or ordinary. Without God’s power we cannot even be his “peculiar” people – we are just well, non-descript, boring, flat – having no features to distinguish us from the crowd.
Recall how others expressed God’s love to you. What was their action, tone of voice, facial expression? What about them made God attractive to you? What about their actions made God’s love believable to you? What about them made you want to emulate being a cut above?
We should ask ourselves daily – Is our love a cut above and believable to others? Could a person see or come to know God’s love through how we respond or react to him or her?
Challenge: Make every effort to live in peace with all men
2 Corinthians 1:12
“Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace”
When people think of us, the quality our work, and our actions and reactions, the Bible says they should think “a cut above.”
- Journal your intention to defer to God today to put on/abide in His holiness so you will be seen as ‘a cut above.’
- At the end of the day journal a response of either 1) Does your conscience have a testimony today that it acted in holiness and with godly sincerity – in the grace of God? If so, give an example how God helped you to fulfill this challenge. Or 2) List a recent situation where you did not display holiness – how could you have handled the situation differently? What does living / abiding in God’s holiness look like?
Be the Miracle! – with journaling pages
Delores Liesner: Author
American Christian Fiction Writers Association
Delores Liesner 