What Would a Holy Person Do?

In President and Sister Nelson’s recent message to young adults in the Church, Sister Nelson suggested one question that “can increase your confidence, decrease your anxiety, motivate you, lift your mood and your sights, increase your productivity, increase your focus and clarity of thinking, help you resist temptation, help you detect deception, increase your gratitude, decrease the stress in your life, increase your capacity to love, and help you make better decisions.” As an introduction to the question she shared this scripture: “And ye must practice virtue and holiness before me continually” (Doctrine and Covenants 46:33). Related to that verse, this was the question she asked young adults to consider: “What would a holy young adult do?” She suggested to them that if they would seriously consider this question in their various activities it would make all of the difference. And surely there is nothing special about it for young adults alone; we can all ask ourselves what a holy person would do in whatever situation we are in and then strive to live up to the answer. We should try to think what a holy person would think, say what a holy person would say, and do what a holy person would do under the different circumstances of our lives. If our goal is to return to Him who is called the “Holy One of Israel” then we must, as this scriptures suggests, “practice” holiness here. We hope one day that “when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure” (Moroni 7:48). For that future day to be a reality—to truly become purified as He is pure—we must strive to live a holy life each and every day.

               The Lord sought to help the children of Israel become holy through the commandments He gave them in the wilderness as they prepared to enter the promised land. Moses said this to them: “For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” In another list of things they were not to do, Moses gave the reasons why the commandments were important this way: “For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God.” He said again in another passage: “And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken.” He gave them commandments so that they could become holy: “The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways” (Deuteronomy 7:6, 14:21, 26:18-19, 28:9). And surely it is the same for us. The commandments that we strive to live today—such as the Word of Wisdom, the law of chastity, tithing, fasting, and keeping the Sabbath holy—are meant to help us be separate from the ways of the world and to become holy. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are seeking to become just that: Saints. The dictionary suggests that this word means “a person of great holiness, virtue, or benevolence,” and that’s what the Lord promises to make us as we keep His commandments, repent, and strive to follow Him. As we seek to be guided by this question each day—“What would a holy person do?”—we have this reassurance from the Savior: “For I am able to make you holy, and your sins are forgiven you” (Doctrine and Covenants 60:7).