But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

As you may know, I am a guitar player and have been working to master the instrument for the last 40 years. I don’t claim to be an expert at it, and if I take a few weeks off from playing it, the rust starts showing.  I once had a good friend give me a bit of advice for how to master a certain piece of music.  His advice was to play the piece over and over again, at different speeds, if necessary, until I could do it perfectly every time.  His reasoning was that the difference between a pro and an amateur was that the amateur practiced until they could play the piece correctly and that a pro practiced until they couldn’t play the piece wrong. The difference may seem subtle, but there is a world of difference between the approaches.  The second one is about striving for perfection while the first is about getting good enough. The gap between the two is level of effort, focus, and dedication to the craft.

This brings me to our verse above.  It’s easy to feel discouraged when reading verses 15 and 16, especially when a quick reading might suggest that God demands perfection from us now and forever. But when we look deeper, we see these verses are about our identity in Christ as much as our behavior. Peter has already told us that believers are saved, are being saved, and will be saved. He has urged us to change our minds and actions while calling us “children of obedience.” In verse 15, he reminds us that God is holy—set apart from all creation—and that we are also made to be holy, distinct from the world. The key is living in accordance with who we already are in Christ.

Though we won’t live sinlessly in this life, we are still called to reflect God's holiness in our conduct. Our choices don’t save us—that’s already been secured by grace through faith in Christ. But now, as God’s people, we are to live like it. This is God’s standard for us, and it should be our own, even with the understanding that we will fall short at times.

So, what does this mean for you and me?

As I mentioned in my guitar example above, the difference is level of effort, focus, and dedication.

1 Peter 1:15-16 teaches that as Christians, we are called to be holy in all our conduct because God, who called us, is holy; essentially, our lives should reflect God's holiness and set us apart from the world, mirroring the command "You shall be holy, for I am holy.". This verse emphasizes that our identity as believers is tied to God's holiness, meaning we are called to live in a way that reflects His character. "Be holy in all your conduct" signifies that our holiness should be evident in every aspect of our lives, not just in specific religious practices.   By living a holy life, we demonstrate that we have been transformed by God's grace and are striving to be like Him.

We are not called to be perfect (which is good, because we would all fall short). We are also not called to try to earn our way to redemption. That price has already been paid. We are called to conduct ourselves in a way that reflects the One who has brought us this redemption.  We need to strive (effort, focus, and dedication) to live all aspects of our lives in a way that honors God.

I know this is a struggle for me and maybe it is for you too. One way I have tried is by asking the Holy Spirit to show me areas in my life that need to be focused on. After all, I know that I want to be a pro, and not an amateur in my daily walk. I invite you to give this a try too.

Lord, we come before You with humble hearts, grateful for Your holiness and the grace You’ve shown us in Christ. Thank You for calling us to be Your people and for giving us the example of Your perfect holiness. We recognize that we are not perfect, and we fall short daily. Yet, we are so thankful that our salvation is not based on our perfection but on the perfect work of Jesus Christ. Strengthen us to grow in Your likeness, not to earn Your favor, but in response to Your love and redemption.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.