How To Look Holy

Matthew 7:15–27 Jesus tells us that it is very easy to look holy or to sound holy. It is easy to appear close to God or to speak as though we are close to Him, but it is much harder to truly be close to God and to actually be holy. Jesus is warning us about caring more about looking holy than being holy. Those who are focused on appearances, on looking like they are close to God in the eyes of others, are compared to wolves. Wolves want something from you. They want to take, to consume. So someone who wants to get something from you may care very much about looking holy, acting like a sheep, even though their intentions are not pure. To look holy is to appear gentle, kind, sweet, and harmless. Sheep are cute, quiet, and non-threatening. 

Some people make themselves look that way—not because they truly are that way, but because they want something from you. Salespeople do this professionally, and there is nothing wrong with that. But sometimes people use religion and faith in the same way, acting overly sweet or gentle in order to gain something for themselves. To truly be holy, Jesus tells us, is to be like a tree that bears fruit. A tree gives from its heart. It produces fruit so that others may be nourished. 

Jesus reminds us that it is very easy to sound holy.  Words alone do not make someone holy. Saying the right phrases or learning religious language does not change the heart.  At the end, Jesus says to some, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.” If faith is only a performance, if it is a show done in God’s name but not rooted in love and obedience, it is not pleasing to Christ. Everyone who hears Jesus’ words and acts on them is like a wise man who builds his house on rock. This kind of faith is built quietly, day by day, through small acts of obedience. It is built brick by brick—listening to your parents, obeying the commandments, receiving the sacraments, praying daily. These are small things that no one may ever notice, but they are what draw us closer to God.

This is what Jesus sets before us. The flashy things may be exciting and attention-grabbing, but they are not what Christ desires. He wants a house built in our hearts—a place where He can dwell, where we can worship and love Him. That house is built slowly, through small, faithful, daily acts. It is something between us and God alone, a quiet temple formed brick by brick in our hearts.