Growing More Holy Together

Growing More Holy Together

I am the LORD your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.

Leviticus 11:44

When researchers ask husbands and wives, “What is it you’ve gotten out of marriage?” couples often say something like, “My spouse has shown me parts of my personality I didn’t know were there.” In other words, “Marriage heightened my self-awareness and has helped me to grow.”

Personal growth is one of the fringe benefits of a good marriage. Having a spouse, in a sense, is like having an intimate mirror that reflects who you really are and so provides more opportunities for personal change. That’s why research shows that married people are healthier on nearly every spectrum than the rest of the population. That is also why Scripture says, “The man [or woman] who finds a wife [or husband] finds a treasure, and he [or she] receives favor from the LORD” (Proverbs 18:22). But that favor comes only when we consecrate ourselves—when we dedicate ourselves, solemnly, to the higher purposes of God.

The Bible calls our inward journey of change “holiness,” being set apart, consecrated to a new relationship, a new purpose, a new identity. There is no greater personal growth than growth in the likeness of God! So as you consider today’s verse from Leviticus—as you “consecrate yourselves”—consider how you and your partner might encourage each other to become more holy. What can you do to heighten each other’s spiritual self-awareness today? What can you do today, and every day, to help each other become more holy?

Every single believer in the church of Jesus Christ is called to be holy, even as Christ is holy—to be pure and blameless in God’s sight. So, if you have been born again, holiness must be the cry of your heart: “God, I want to be like Jesus. I want to walk holy before you, all the days of my life!”

—David Wilkerson