You have within you a desire to be holy. Whether you realize it or not, it's there. We all, whether Christian, Jew, Muslim, atheist, or agnostic, have within us a desire to be holy. It is written into our soul. It is a part of who we are, a part of how God created us.
What is holiness? Quite simply, holiness is "an insatiable desire to improve oneself and an unquenchable concern for unholy people" (Matthew Kelly). We all want to improve our lives and the lives of others. This is holiness. Unfortunately, we often follow that desire for holiness down the wrong paths. We seek holiness in the world. We seek it in improving our social status. We seek it in improving our economic status. We think that money and status will improve ourselves. We think that we will be happy only if we have enough money and enough friends. But are we really happy? Are we really improving ourselves by having more money or respect in business and society? Maybe, but does the pursuit of wealth and status lead to lasting happiness or self-improvement? No, because once we reach the goal we set for ourselves we ultimately find that it is not enough, and we seek more.
Many people think that in order to be holy you are not allowed to enjoy life. Some people believe that to be holy you have to run away from the world, or that you have to be in a church on your knees all day. All of these are unnatural responses to what holiness is. I say unnatural because there is nothing more natural than being holy. What is unnatural is our worldly pursuit of holiness.
What is holiness? Holiness is a choice. It is choosing what God wants for you and letting go of what you want for yourself. In order to truly improve ourselves, we must learn to let go of what we want. We must, in order to be truly holy, have an insatiable desire to do what God wants us to do. We must allow God to guide our thoughts, our words, our actions. It is only through doing this that we will have an insatiable desire to improve ourselves. It is only in following God's plan for our lives that we can have an unquenchable concern for unholy people. If we can do this, if we can give complete control over to God, then we can fulfill our desire for holiness.