Leviticus 19

"Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." Leviticus 19:2

Multiple times in the bible we are told to "be holy", but I have always struggled with the idea of what being holy actually is. The Hebrew word for holy, qadosh, isn't much help, as it only means sacred, or ceremonially clean. The Greek word, hagios, isn't much better, meaning morally pure. Neither of those words tell me what being clean or pure is.

Thank goodness for Leviticus 19, that goes into great detail about what being holy is!

To care for your parents. Verse 3

To care for the poor, and be sure they don't go hungry. Verses 9, 10

Do not steal or deal falsely with one another. Verse 11

Don't defraud your neighbor, or rob him. Verse 13

Pay the hired man a fair wage. Verse 13

Don't curse the deaf, or put a stumbling block before the blind, ie, don't take advantage of someone's disabilities to harm them or be cruel to them. Verse 14

Don't show preference to the rich over the poor in matters of law. The law should be fair and be no respecter of persons. Verse 15

Don't be a "talebearer", or one who spreads gossip and lies as truth, especially gossip and lies that do harm to an innocent person. Verse 16

Don't harbor hate in your heart, or wish ill on those around you. Verse 17

Don't bear grudges, but love your neighbor as yourself. Verse 18

No raping women, no whoring out your daughter. Verses 20, 29 (Can you believe this even has to be written out like that? But women were so poorly thought of it was not considered wrong to rape your female slave, or hire your daughter out for sex.)

Respect and care for the elderly. Verse 32

Treat immigrants with respect and kindness, and treat them fairly, in the same way you would want yourself to be treated. Verses 33, 34

No cheating in business, but just balances and weights. Verse 36

I guess I had always thought of being holy as sitting on some mountain top somewhere, praying, but these verses make being "holy" a very practical matter. Basically, be kind.

When my kids were little, they would often bicker among themselves, the way children do, and I remember repeatedly saying, "Why can't you guys just be nice to each other?" In telling us to "be holy", God is basically saying the same thing.

Be kind, because God is kind. To me, that is a wonderful thought.