The LORD also said to Moses, ‘Give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel. You must be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.'” (Leviticus 19:1-2 NLT)
It’s no mistake that today’s verses are stuck right in the middle of a book full of extremely detailed laws for the people of Israel. Just looking at the immediate context, chapter 18 enumerates specific requirements for sexual purity. while chapter 19 has commands about honoring parents, offering sacrifices to God, loving our neighbor in practical ways by leaving food for the poor, and many other detailed requirements for holiness. God is showing us that our actions can reflect His holiness.
But just in case we should lose the forest for the trees, the Lord reminds us what is at the heart of all of these requirements, what is at the heart of holiness: love. How is God holy? He loves. In Leviticus 19:18, He tells us to love our own people, especially by forgiving their wrongs. They are our neighbors and we should love them as ourselves.
And there is more. Because of our hard hearts, God has to clearly spell out that our love cannot be limited to those who are like us. In verses 33-34, He tells us to treat the stranger or the foreigner among us as ourselves, to love them as ourselves. God reminds us that we too were once strangers; we too were once far from God (Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:12). Thank God that in Christ, we have been brought into the family of God and given all the power we need to be holy as He is holy. No matter how many times we fall short of His holiness, Jesus waits with open arms to pick us up and help us walk in love once again.
For reflection:
- Spend some time today meditating on HOW the Lord Jesus is holy. Praise, worship and adore Him for these specific ways of holiness. Thank the Holy Spirit that He is making you more and more into the image of this Holy God. Then, repent for the ways you are not holy. Receive God’s forgiveness and ask for His help to love as He loves.
- Take the Leviticus 19 Love Challenge, which has two parts:
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- Love someone near to you (vss. 17-18): ask the Lord to help you forgive and bless someone close to you.
- Love someone “far” from you (vss. 33-34): ask the Lord for a specific way you can bless someone who is a foreigner to you, for example: a refugee or immigrant living in our city, a non-Christian neighbor or co-worker, someone on the opposite side of the political aisle, etc. Ask God for the grace to love that person as yourself.
by Christina Winrich
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