And Aaron was set apart to sanctify him as most holy, he and his sons forever, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister to Him and to bless in His name forever.

I Chronicles 23:13

“To sanctify someone or something is to set that person or thing apart for the use intended by its designer.”  www.biblestudytools.com

I have been reflecting on the idea of being set apart.  I see the tendency in myself to want to set myself apart from others.  Even when I am not “being judgmental,” I often make “observations” about others, seeing how they are different from me.  Thus, in my mind I am setting myself apart from them.

Historically, there have been many superficial reasons for self-sanctification:  race, geography, denomination, wealth, class.  But we have never limited ourselves to those!  I amaze myself at how creative I can be in my reasons for self-sanctification.  There are the obvious ones, of course:  where I went to school, my neighborhood, what kind of car I drive, but I have even caught myself setting myself apart because of the kind of food in my grocery cart!

I cringe when I think of the result of this sin in the church.  How often have we defamed the name of Jesus by considering ourselves superior to anyone for any reason?  God wants us to be set apart by Him and for Him.  Instead, we divide ourselves by denominational and other issues, tearing the unity that He so urgently commands throughout the New Testament.

We are not to consider ourselves set apart because of anything about us.  Rather, how we act, what we do, where we go, etc., will be different as a result of our sanctification.  Jesus does not sanctify us by his blood so that we can consider ourselves superior to others, breaking relationships.  Instead, we are set apart for the purpose of being in relationship with God and in unity with other believers.

Lord, I confess my sin of self-sanctification.  May the only sanctification in my life come from You.