How Do We Become Holy?

            My Come, Follow Me studies took me to Exodus 35-40 and Leviticus 1; 16; 19. This lesson teaches about how God works to help His children to become holy. The lesson was introduced with this paragraph:

Leaving Egypt – as important and miraculous as that was – didn’t fully accomplish God’s purposes for the children of Israel. Even future prosperity in the promised land wasn’t God’s ultimate objective for them. These were only steps toward what God really wanted for His people: “Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). How did God seek to make His people holy when they had known nothing but captivity for generations? He commanded them to create a place of holiness to the Lord – a tabernacle in the wilderness. He gave them covenants and laws to guide their actions and to change their hearts. And when they fell short in their efforts to keep those laws, He commanded them to make animal sacrifices to symbolize atonement for their sins. All of this was meant to point their minds, their hearts, and their lives toward the Savior and the redemption He offers He is the true path to holiness, for the Israelites and for us. We have all spent some time in the captivity of sin, and we are all invited to repent – to leave sin behind and follow Jesus Christ, who has promised, “I am able to make you holy” (Doctrine and Covenants 60:7).

            The Lord’s instructions to build a tabernacle are found in Exodos 25-31. He wanted them to build the tabernacle as a place where sacred ordinances could be performed to help them become a holy people. The tabernacle was to be made of wood and fabric and was to contain the ark of the covenant, altar of incense, candlestick or lampstand, altar of sacrifice, and a laver or basin of water. President Henry B. Eyring taught the following about becoming holy.

Greater happiness comes from greater personal holiness…. The scriptures teach us that among other things, we can be sanctified or become more holy when we exercise faith in Christ, demonstrate our obedience, repent, sacrifice for Him, receive sacred ordinances, and keep our covenants with Him….

The hymn “More Holiness Give Me” [Hymns, no. 131] suggests a way to pray for help in becoming more holy. The author wisely suggests that the holiness we seek is a gift form a loving God, granted over time, after all we can do (“Holiness and the Plan of Happiness,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2019, 100-101, 103).

            Wendy Nelson authored a wonderful book titled, “What Would a Holy Woman Do?” that has a lot of interesting information in it. After reading it, I was faced with a decision about going on a hunting trip with my husband. I did not want to go, and I expressed my feelings to my husband. Nonetheless, he continued to ask me to go, and I was becoming frustrated. We had been away from home, and I had important tasks to do. I asked myself, “what would a holy woman do in this situation?”

The answer was to pray about the situation. I prayed and felt that I should go on the hunting trip. Once I knew what Heavenly Father thought I should do, my frustration disappeared. Dangerous weather gave me a few more days at home to complete the necessary tasks, and I felt fine about going on the trip.

The positive aspect to the decision was that we were able to return at the designated time, rather than sitting out rainy weather and waiting for good flying weather. The lesson that I learned is that thinking about situations with a holy perspective can help us make better decisions and become more holy.