The Holiness Within Us-Our High Self-Esteem

nThe holiness within us-our high self-esteemnThis holiness may represent the most important and valuable thing that is within us. Such a thing could only be our high self esteem, a very special value, which cannot be measured by money; which can only be compared to the value of the divine or of its holiness, due to His declaration that we were created in His image.nnThe Holiness within man is therefore the spiritual content which typifies the essence of His creation born in God’s image. If we can express our high self-worth, then we can express that holiness , can emphasize the divine part of ourselves and thus give a practical expression to the idea of man’s being created in God’s own image. Therefore, sanctifying the other, means raising his self-esteem or providing the other with this content. Stemming from this, is that the meaning of being sanctified is to be filled with this content.nnDesecrating holiness means damaging it; harming the unique value, which forms the tight bond between man and God, thereby indirectly harming God’s holiness as well. Any man's expression of hatred, non-recognition, disregard towards another, hurts his value and holiness, thus impinges on the sanctity of the divine. However, it is true that occasionally the person himself causes his own injury, due to his actions, reactions and positions. In doing so, he hurts his own holiness as well as that of God.nnMan’s primary obligation is to express his high self-worth, not in order to receive a good grade, but because through this attitude he expresses the essence which was instilled in him by his Creator.n nI would like to present two divine declarations, which supply a very strong motivation for giving expression to man’s holiness, namely, giving expression to his unique self-worth:nn“Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). Meaning, you shall posses a unique self-worth, since that is how I Myself am (possessing an absolute self-worth). Possessing such a value signifies acting and behaving as the possessor of such a value. The things said following this declaration, teach how man must act and behave in order to possess a unique self-worth. Here are some of these declarations:nn“Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man; Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;n nAnd if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him; But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.”nnIn this way, God hints that if you implement his instructions in this chapter, you will be holy in his eyes, namely, you will possess a unique self-worth, and then you will certainly be this way in your own eyes too. This is a further wonderful encouragement given to man for raising his self-worth, pointing yet again to the importance of man’s high self-worth in God’s eyes.nn“Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the Lord; Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the Lord which hallow you” (Leviticus 22:31-32).nn Meaning, if you preserve and properly carry out my commandments, your self-worth will be such, that you will not harm another, and therefore you will not be harming my value, my holiness. So, your level of holiness will be such that- I who sanctified you – will come to be sanctified within you. And there you have an additional divine encouragement; nothing could exceed it.nAbraham Adarnwww.adar-publishing.com