by Derek Hanisch, RTF staff writer

I’ve had a pet peeve for a long time. There are several popular worship songs that include the phrase “holy hands.” That’s always irked me. I’ve always been under the assumption that we don’t have holy hands. We’re sinful, we have dirty hands. I’ve always felt that the phrase of “lifting holy hands up to God” was impossible.

I was reading the book of Timothy the other day and came across the following verse:

“In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy.” -1 Timothy 2:8

I was perplexed. So I turned to a friend and asked him a question. I asked how it was possible to have holy hands because we are sinful creatures.

His words shocked me with their simplicity.

“Through the blood of Christ,” he responded. He went on, telling me that yes, we are sinners, but that’s not our identity. Because of Jesus Christ dying for us we no longer have to live as sinners, instead we get to live as children of God.

His words really struck me. It may seem like a simple principal, but I’ve never seen things that way. I’ve always felt that we’re sinners, and that we can try for a holy life, we can try to have holy hands, but no matter how hard we try it’s not going to happen because of what we are.

I’ve always gone into situation striving for righteousness, but knowing that I would never achieve that righteousness. With that attitude I may have been able to keep on striving for a while, but I’ve always fallen, always.

It took those simple words from my friend: “Through the blood of Christ.” We can have holy hands because Jesus Christ went on the cross and died for our sins, every single one of them. From now on I’m moving forward with a new look on life. Because I’ve been cleansed through the blood of Christ I no longer have to live with the identity of “sinner.”

I’ve been washed clean by the sacrifice of my Savior. Now instead of just striving for righteousness, I can obtain it, but only when I’m living in tune with Christ through the scriptures and prayer.