What Does It Mean "To Be Holy"

"You shall be holy,"

Just to read that line is somewhat terrifying.  Is that truly what God expects for all of his believers — to be holy?   

In the english dictionary we fine this definition of holy: “exalted or worthy of complete devotion.. as one perfect in goodness and righteousness.  Having a divine quality! Sacred!”  

How many of us can even imagine, in our wildest dreams, being “worthy of complete devotion”?

This is when it is a good thing to go back to the Greek and Hebrew to fine out what holy actually might refer to.  Researching words in scripture can open an  altogether new understanding of what we think we know. When we don’t pay attention to the ancient meanings we are tempted to interpret biblical words incorrectly. Which, by the way, leads to all kinds of misunderstanding!  Something that occurs all to often in our world today.

Here is what I found when I looked up holy in my trusty theological dictionary where the basic meaning is indeed “an object of awe.”  However when you look further you find that holy means “to be connected with God’s name, which leads to an expression of his nature” 

Now we can take a deep breathe!  

As followers of Jesus we are all connected to God’s name.  Right?  So then we need to think about what we learned in kindergarten Sunday School. That is, what Jesus taught us about being children of God.  The simplest way to put it is the golden rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  Jesus also said it one other way: “Love others as you love yourself.” I do not think that needs any further explanation!  

Being holy is to live our lives with the kind of behavior that show others of our faith in a God who loves them as much as he love us.  A life the expresses God’s compassion and gentleness!  That is holy living!

Any questions!

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy…..15 You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the Lord. 17 You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19: 1-18)