We sometimes fool ourselves into thinking that the true test for holiness is whether we look to God in the big events in life – ‘who will I marry,’ ‘which new job should I consider,’ ‘where and how should I educate my children?’  We certainly need to be making those decisions with reference to God’s will for us, but that’s not where the rub of holiness hits us day in and day out.

Here’s an excerpt from Kevin DeYoung’s upcoming book  The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap Between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness (Crossway; August 31, 2012), page 145:

Holiness is the sum of a million little things — the avoidance of little evils and little foibles, the setting aside of little bits of worldliness and little acts of compromise, the putting to death of little inconsistencies and little indiscretions, the attention to little duties and little dealings, the hard work of little self-denials and little self-restraints, the cultivation of little benevolences and little forbearances. Are you trustworthy? Are you kind? Are you patient? Are you joyful? Do you love? These qualities, worked out in all the little things of life, determine whether you are blight or blessing to everyone around you, whether you are an ugly spiritual eyesore or growing up into a good-looking Christian.