Be Holy

   “For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; you shall therefore be holy, for I am Holy.” (Leviticus 11: 45)

  God has told us that we should be holy as He is holy.  While we can’t be perfectly holy as God is we have the ability to be holy in many ways.  God will help.  He will give us the strength to increase our sanctity.

   The idea of holiness is something that is difficult for us to apply to ourselves.  We see others who are supposedly much holier than we.  They seem to exude holiness while we struggle in our attempts to be holy.  The reality is that they are no more holy than you or I.  They have learned to accept their holiness; a lesson we all need to learn.

   Increasing our holiness is up to us.  We can look to God for guidance in our daily activities striving for holiness and avoiding those things that detract from our holiness.  Simply taking the time to turn our heart to God rather than rushing into a decision can bring us closer to holiness.  Thanking Him for all He has done and continues to do for us increases our sanctity.  In fact, anything we do that includes God makes us more holy.

   A simple smile to one who obviously needs a smile is as act of holiness.  A shoulder to cry on; an ear to listen; the simple act of holding another’s hand when they are troubled; all of these things are holy and help us to become holy.  Visiting a sick friend or helping someone who is having difficulties brings God closer to them and gives us the opportunity to be holy as God is holy.  Being holy isn’t hard but it takes effort.  We must be willing to accept our own holiness and seek to increase it by doing those things that are holy in the eyes of God.