"Set Apart: Personal Holiness” | Rev. Vicki Harrison
When Holiness Felt Out of Reach
Most of us don't spend a lot of time thinking about holiness.
And honestly? That might be because the word itself carries some baggage. Maybe you grew up thinking holiness was something reserved for the Pope — or for the kind of people in church who seemed to make a hobby out of judging everyone else. Maybe you have sung songs about longing for holiness and quietly wondered if you actually meant it.
Pastor Vicki Harrison started there in Week 2 of our Set Apart series: "I spent most of my life thinking holiness just wasn't possible for me."
She's not alone. And if that resonates, you're in good company.
What "Set Apart" Actually Means
The word holy simply means set apart. That's it.
It doesn't mean flawless. It doesn't mean religious. It means different — living and looking distinctly different from the culture around us, not in a way that isolates us, but in a way that reflects something worth noticing.
The Scripture for Week 2 comes from 1 Peter 1:13-16:
Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."
Peter was writing to people living at the margins of society — a community being persecuted, carrying a label they didn't choose. And his word to them was essentially: own it. You are different, and that is a good thing. You have been chosen by God, you walk in grace, you have an inheritance waiting. Despite what is happening around you, you live with hope. That is worth owning.
The therefore at the start of verse 13 matters. Because of all of that — because of the salvation you've received, because of the hope you carry — things are different now. You live differently from the people around you.
The Part Nobody Expects: Holiness in Leviticus
Here's where it gets interesting.
When Peter quotes Leviticus — "Be holy, because I am holy" — he's pointing back to a book most of us don't spend much time in. But the book of Leviticus has a lot to say about what holiness actually looks like in practice.
In Leviticus 19, God is instructing His people through Moses, and the application is surprisingly concrete:
Leave part of your harvest for the poor and the outsider in your land. Because I am the Lord your God.
Do not steal or lie. Because I am the Lord.
Do not oppress your neighbors or your workers. Do not mistreat the disabled. Because I am the Lord.
Do not discriminate against the poor. Because I am the Lord.
Do not hate your brother or seek revenge. Because I am the Lord.
Every command is tethered to the same motive: God's own character. His people are to look like Him — and that likeness shows up not just in what they avoid but in how they treat the most vulnerable people around them.
The same thread runs into the New Testament. Micah says God calls his people to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. Jesus says his followers love their enemies, live generously, and walk closely with the poor and outcasts. Paul says there is nothing in your life that does not come under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
Holiness is not a private spiritual score. It's a public orientation — lived out in workplaces, neighborhoods, relationships, and daily choices.
Children Look Like Their Parents
Pastor Vicki shared a story about her family.
Her daughter Rosie and her husband Richard are both engineers. They love math and physics for fun. They process information the same way. They argue the same way. The resemblance is striking and a little uncanny.
"In our case," she said, "we are God's children and we are to resemble our heavenly Father."
We're to look like Him. Act like Him. Love like Him. Be holy like Him.
When we accept Jesus into our life, we become children of God. That changes how we think, how we speak, what we prioritize, and how we treat the person in front of us. Being saved isn't only about what happens after we die — it's about living a transformed life right now. Holiness is about being transformed by Jesus in the present.
You Have to Train for It
None of this happens by accident.
Holiness is a discipline. Like working out, it requires a decision and consistent practice. You do not drift into it.
Pastor Vicki named three areas worth examining:
Habits — your language, your speech, your attitudes, and your daily behaviors.
Platforms — the social media feeds you scroll, the TV shows you watch, the news you consume, the music and podcasts shaping your thinking.
Patterns — the gossip, the negativity, the anger, the small compromises that repeat themselves.
Take a moment to ask: what part of my life is not aligned with the character of Jesus? What am I taking into my mind that's working against my desire to be holy?
This Week's Challenge
The challenge from Week 2 is concrete and doable:
Identify one thing in your life that isn't aligned with holiness — and cut it off for seven days.
Not forever. Just seven days. Prove to yourself that you're not a slave to it.
What fills your habits, your platforms, your patterns that you know needs to go? Start with one thing. Seven days. That's it.
Join Us
We're in the middle of Set Apart — a four-week series at New Hope Church exploring what it means to live as people who are genuinely, practically, visibly different in the world.
Listen to and subscribe to the audio-only podcast with your favorite podcasting app below.
Your giving is an act of worship. Your giving supports the mission and ministry of New Hope. We are changing lives, renewing the church, and transforming communities, here and abroad.
More Sermons in this Series
Other Sermons from Pastor Vicki
Most of us have the wrong picture of holiness. Pastor Vicki Harrison opens 1 Peter 1:13-16 and shows that being set apart isn't about being religious — it's about looking like your Father.