Leviticus 19:1-18

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

3 Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.

4 Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.

5 When you sacrifice a peace offering to the LORD, you shall offer it for your acceptance. 6 It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it, or on the next day; but what remains on the third day must be burned up. 7 If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is tainted and will not be accepted. 8 Whoever eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned what is holy to the LORD. That person must be cut off from his people.

9 When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.

11 You must not steal. You must not lie or deceive one another.

12 You must not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.

13 You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him.

You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand.

14 You must not curse the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD.

15 You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.

16 You must not go about spreading slander among your people.

You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.

17 You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him. 18 Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

REFLECTIONS

We spent lots of time last year thinking about what it means to be holy like God is holy (v. 2). We saw that holiness is a gift we receive through faith in Jesus. He devotes us to God by his death for us. But Jesus also frees us to live holy lives, lives that are devoted to God. We don’t just learn that from the New Testament, the Old Testament has so much to teach us about holy living. After all, verse 18 was Jesus’ second-favourite Bible verse: “love your neighbour as yourself” (see Matthew 22:37-40).

As I read Leviticus 19 today, it struck me how holiness involves both our actions and our attitudes – our hands and our hearts. For example, in verses 17-18, God tells us not to seek revenge (action), he also says not to harbour hatred against others in our hearts (attitude). I’m sure we could think about both our hands and our hearts with all the areas of life this passage covers – honouring our parents, not turning to idols, helping the poor and foreigners, not stealing or lying, and so on.

Pray for one aspect of your own holiness today, both for your actions and your attitude.