How's My Personal Conduct?

Leviticus 19:1-4, 11-18, 26-37

1 The Lord also said to Moses, 2 “Give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel. You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

3 “Each of you must show great respect for your mother and father, and you must always observe my Sabbath days of rest. I am the Lord your God.

4 “Do not put your trust in idols or make metal images of gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.

11 “Do not steal.
“Do not deceive or cheat one another.

12 “Do not bring shame on the name of your God by using it to swear falsely. I am the Lord.

13 “Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.
“Do not make your hired workers wait until the next day to receive their pay.

14 “Do not insult the deaf or cause the blind to stumble. You must fear your God; I am the Lord.

15 “Do not twist justice in legal matters by favoring the poor or being partial to the rich and powerful. Always judge people fairly.

16 “Do not spread slanderous gossip among your people.
“Do not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is threatened. I am the Lord.

17 “Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin.

18 “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

26 “Do not eat meat that has not been drained of its blood.
“Do not practice fortune-telling or witchcraft.

27 “Do not trim off the hair on your temples or trim your beards.

28 “Do not cut your bodies for the dead, and do not mark your skin with tattoos. I am the Lord.

29 “Do not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be filled with prostitution and wickedness.

30 “Keep my Sabbath days of rest, and show reverence toward my sanctuary. I am the Lord.

31 “Do not defile yourselves by turning to mediums or to those who consult the spirits of the dead. I am the Lord your God.

32 “Stand up in the presence of the elderly, and show respect for the aged. Fear your God. I am the Lord.

33 “Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land. 34 Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

35 “Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight, or volume. 36 Your scales and weights must be accurate. Your containers for measuring dry materials or liquids must be accurate. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

37 “You must be careful to keep all of my decrees and regulations by putting them into practice. I am the Lord.”

The Lord starts off here with and awesome statement in verse 2, "You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy." We cannot go to God with any prayers if we are not holy in His sight. Thank God for Jesus and the holiness He bought for me on the cross. The verses following that look like a long list of rules that most people don't like to be confined to following. I look at them as a guide to living the way God wants me to live.

The first part of verse 3 I do better at than I do the last part. I do respect and honor my parents, but I do not totally rest on the Sabbath. I try to rest as much as possible but I have a wife with a never ending to-do list that reminds me of what is on it and that the tasks need to get done. Verse 4 seems to be an obvious one, but we don't normally consider things as idols when we really treat them that way. For me an idol in my life is the TV. I like to sit and watch TV. I should spend the time I watch TV with the kids or reading the bible or working on that to-do list.

Verse 11 is obvious. Verse 12 is one that many people use, mostly when they are in trouble. The verbage I can relate to that is, "I swear to God that I didn't...." This is what I think the Lord is talking about here. Verse 13 is also very obvious. Apparently in the times of Moses people got paid daily for their work. They must not have had HR departments or payroll or taxes to worry about.

I can't imagine who would do what verse 14 says, but if someone does then they should be ashamed for their actions.

Verse 15 has special meaning to me in the line of work I do with collections. It also has applicability in doing evictions and will be very applicable when I start doing mediation work next year.

The first part of verse 16 is hard to do sometimes. I usually try to justify it by saying to myself that I was only telling my wife because I should tell her everything. I didn't see the Lord put in an escape clause in that verse so I shouldn't try and use it to justify my actions. The last part of that verse is very obvious to me. Growing up in a small town community this becomes very real to you. If a neighbor is in need you go and help them out. I can remember a neighbor who was diagnosed with cancer and he had four children and the crops in his fields needed to be tended to. The community gathered around the family and worked in their fields until the work was done and then tended to their own fields. This was a normal way of life for me growing up.
Verse 17 is one that is very hard to do sometimes. When you have an uncle who was a convicted child molester how do you naturally not want to hold a hatred in your heart towards him? I had to learn to forgive him for what he did to the family and realize that hating him did nothing to him and only hurt me.

Verse 18 is very key in walking in love. My flesh wants revenge if it feels that it was harmed in some way. I must not seek revenge and learn to show God's love to the offending party and let God's love minister to them.

The first part of verse 26 is comforting to me because I like my steaks cooked medium well to well done. I have a friend who likes his steak to be introduced to the grill enough for the flames to kiss the meat on each side and then call it done. The last part of the verse is common sense to me.

I obviously don't follow verse 27, but for those who are under the old covenant must follow it.
I have not done verse 28 and don't have intention of doing it either. I definitely will not allow my daughter to participate in verse 29. I am working on verse 30. I will not do verse 31, which means no horoscopes for me. Why look to the stars for answers when I can look to the One who made those stars?

I have to work on verse 32 because my parents now qualify for this and I need to get better at it. Verses 33-34 applies to me in my vocational endeavors. It is hard to bridge the language and cultural barriers but I must do so in order to get to the desired solution for all the parties involved.

Verses 35-36 are also very applicable to my vocational pursuits. I must not use dishonest standards when I deal with the people I deal with each day. I need to be accurate and fair in my dealings or I can get sued and pay huge fines.

I strive to live up to verse 37 because this means that I would be doing what God wants me to do and in the way He wants me to do it.