“I go to a sanctified church,” my neighbor Tommy would say, as he went to double beat clapping and alternate foot stomping while singing a song that his choir performed. “We be jammin’.” And as a girl I longed to go to his church to see his sanctified choir in action, but I knew I had to wear a long dress, and I didn’t have any long dresses, and it would also be hard for me to look somber like his plain-faced mother and sisters did. They looked so serious, I guess about God. I asked my mother what a sanctified church was and she told me about some of their practices, but all I remember is “the women have to wear long dresses and little or no makeup, especially red lipstick and nail polish.” As a young lover of fashion and makeup, I knew I couldn’t go to a sanctified church. I would have to settle for my Methodist one.

You may have heard of sanctified churches too, and maybe, like me, you thought they were a part of the sanctified denomination. But age and wisdom helped me to understand that there is no sanctified denomination and that all Christian churches should have sanctified, or holy, people, those whose hearts yearn to be like God.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that we are gods, with a little “g,” but God, through Jesus Christ, has called Christians to work in His behalf while we are on the earth (2 Corinthians 5:20). In order to do this, you have to set yourself apart from a human agenda and align yourself to God for His use. This is being sanctified (sanctification); this is being holy. This does have something to do with music, makeup and clothes because sanctification has everything to do with your behavior that emanates from a pure heart (1 Peter 1:13-23).

So the vision of a holy woman is one who exchanges her desires and other people’s agendas for her so she can clearly be aligned with Christ and able to accomplish His mission. Depending on the woman, this may affect your choice in music and the way you wear your makeup and clothes. Most likely your heart’s desire will demonstrate who has your attention—you and the world or God. But know this: sanctification is an ongoing process, one we don’t complete until we go to heaven. So be encouraged if you can’t seem to shake that hoochie in you; keep seeking God and eventually that hoochie will shake you loose.

By Rhonda J. Smith copyright 2009