Holiness to the Lord

Leviticus 17-25. 

When something is written several times in the Old Testament, you know it must be important. This week while reading the book of Leviticus, I noticed a recurring theme: the importance of sanctifying ourselves and becoming holy in character as the Lord is. This theme was emphasized in several verses in Leviticus, which is why I chose to write about it, and discuss what it really means.

To understand the theme better lets find out what it means to be sanctified and holy. According to the Guide to Scriptures, “sanctification,” is when we become “free from sin, pure, clean, and holy through the atonement of Jesus Christ” (Guide to the Scriptures, online).  The Bible Dictionary states that “things or places where holy that were set apart for a sacred purpose …similarly, a holy person meant one who held a sacred office.” It also stated that in order to be holy, our minds and hearts had to be set straight upon the Lord. So in simple words we can say that in order to be sanctified and holy, we must separate ourselves from things that keep us from being the sacred people we are meant to be.

The Lord, our creator, has required that we become holy like Him. We can do this through the grace of the atonement. To make sure we remain holy, we must make use of the atonement. We can repent from our mistakes, and wrongdoings, and get right with the Lord. We can be become pure and holy again through the Lord as we separate ourselves from the filth of the world. In Leviticus 18: 4-5 we are told to keep the commandments and live them. Some of the commandments mentioned in chapters 19-20 were: obey your parents; observe the Sabbath, refrain from having idols, or false gods other than God. Do not steal, lie, or be dishonest. Do not use the Lord’s name in vain, and or commit adultery, and love your neighbor as you love yourself. These are some things that we can follow and live by to come closer to God, and be holy like He is.

We know and see that the world struggles with keeping and living the commandments. I think the ones that most of the world struggles with today are not having false idols, and loving their neighbors as they love themselves. I think that if we all refrained from putting anything else before God, and we loved and treated everyone as if it was ourselves then the world would be a completely different place. I don’t think there would be much dishonesty, stealing, lying, or breaking the Sabbath. Unfortunately, this is all wishful thinking. As long as we all have our agency, this is something that will be difficult to do, but we can all choose to make the world a better place by living the commandments, being good examples, and striving to become holy everyday.

I know I can improve in keeping the commandments. I choose to do my best from now on in keeping the Sabbath day holy by attending church, renewing my covenants I made with the Lord, and findings ways to grow spiritually and closer to heavenly Father. This is something we can all do. As we keep the commandments, and strive to live them daily, we will be blessed and sanctified. We will be able to fulfill the Lord’s desire to be holy as He is.