Hi, and thanks for joining us for today's encouragement from the Our Daily Bread Devotional.

I'm Elisa Morgan, and I called our reading from holy to holy.

As a child, my daughter loved playing with her Swiss cheese at lunch. She'd placed the pastel

yellow square in her face like a mask saying, look, mom, her sparkly green eyes peeking out from the two

holes in the cheese. As a young mom, that Swiss cheese mask summed up my feelings about my efforts,

genuinely offered, full of love, but so very imperfect.

Holy, not holy.

Oh, how we longed to live a holy life, a life set apart for God and characterized by being like Jesus.

But day after day, holiness seems out of reach.

In its place, our holiness, our full of wholeness remains.

In 2 Timothy chapter 1, Paul writes to his protege, Timothy, urging him to live up to his holy calling.

The apostle then clarified in verse 9 that God has saved us and called us to a holy life,

not because of anything we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace.

This life is possible not because of our character, but because of God's

grace. Paul continues, this grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. Can we

accept God's grace and live from the platform of power it provides. Whether in parenting, marriage, work, or

loving our neighbor, God calls us to a holy life made possible not because of our efforts to be

perfect, but because of His grace.

For today's scripture reading, I'll be reading from 2 Timothy chapter 1, verses 6 through 10.

For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame, the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

For the spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.

So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me, his prisoner.

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