Positional vs. Practical Holiness

So many modern day believers want to be saved by Christ and have their sins forgiven but don't like the idea of giving up their sin habits. It has been said, "We all want the crowns, but no one is willing to bear the cross." Jesus tells us in Matthew 16:24, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." (NIV) As a society, we have become so selfish that we have forgotten that many of God's most devout followers in the Bible had to suffer tremendously. Our lives do not necessarily have to suffer to the extremes that are mentioned in the Bible, but our Christian experience should be a life pursuit of sacrifice to God. It should not surprise or offend us if our situation deteriorates toward suffering for our faith. We should be willing to make some changes in our lives that may be viewed by the "world" as counter-cultural or hyper-religious but ultimately those changes will lead us in the direction of personal and practical Holiness.