It isn’t popular in our society to be different, is it? Peer pressure doesn’t affect just kids and teenagers. Adults are also worried about what others may think or say. We are afraid to speak up at work or in various meetings. We don’t like attention drawn to us. We don’t want to “rock the boat.” We don’t want to be different.

But Jesus was different. Jesus didn’t conform to the preconceived ideas that everyone had for Him. Instead, the Lord chose to be different. There was a difference in the way He was born. There was a difference in the way He lived and taught. There was a difference in the way He prayed and in the way He treated others. There was a difference in the way he endured suffering. There was a difference in the way He died.

The word Peter uses in his letters to portray Jesus’ difference is the word “holy.” Holy means to be set apart (for a special or religious purpose). Unger’s Bible Dictionary defines holy as “separation from all that is sinful, or impure, or morally imperfect.” Peter’s call to us today is to adopt this holiness that Jesus portrayed for our own lives. In I Peter, the apostle encourages his readers to “be holy, because I (God) am holy” (1:16). In II Peter 1:5-9, we are persuaded to grow in our faith so that our holiness will grow and the more we grow in holiness, the more like Jesus we become.

Since Jesus was willing to be different (holy), it follows that His people should be, too. Would those around you every day consider you to be different (holy)? Jesus warns us that by being His disciples, the world considers us to be different (John 15:19).

But think of the end result—eternal life with God. That should be plenty of motivation to help you put up with the temporary troubles of this life. Thinking of heaven helps us to be holy in all that we do (II Peter 3:11).
This post was copied---Not written by me--Tom Stanford