by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n
“You are a holy people to Yahweh your God<\/em>” (Deuteronomy 14:2).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Deuteronomy 14 begins with identity. Everything that follows, including dietary laws and tithing practices, flows from that identity. Israel wasn’t supposed to mimic the nations around them; their distinctiveness was intentional.<\/p>\n
The point isn’t about food; it’s about being set apart. God wanted Israel to live in a way that reflected His character and priorities. Their daily habits were supposed to remind them who they belonged to.<\/p>\n
We don’t follow the same laws, but the principle still applies. Your identity in God should shape your choices. Not in a performative way, but in a consistent way. The way you spend, speak, work, and respond should reflect who you belong to.<\/p>\n
Deuteronomy 14 pushes us to consider whether our daily patterns match our identity. Holiness isn’t about being impressive; it’s about being aligned with God.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Zeke Flores “You are a holy people to Yahweh your God” (Deuteronomy 14:2). Deuteronomy 14 begins with identity. Everything that follows, including dietary laws and tithing practices, flows from that identity. Israel wasn’t supposed to mimic the nations around them; their distinctiveness was intentional. The point isn’t about food; it’s about being set apart.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[642,1889],"class_list":["post-97531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-christianity","tag-identity"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":95772,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/be-holy\/","url_meta":{"origin":97531,"position":0},"title":"Be Holy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores \"For I am Yahweh your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy\" (Leviticus 11:44). Leviticus 11 is full of clean and unclean animals, and it can feel distant. But the heart behind it is simple. God was teaching His people to live differently,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":97574,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/remember-the-hard-times\/","url_meta":{"origin":97531,"position":1},"title":"Remember the Hard Times","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores \"You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt\" (Deuteronomy 16:12). Deuteronomy 16 outlines Israel's major festivals, but the point is found in Deuteronomy 16:12. The festivals weren't just celebrations; they were structured reminders. Israel needed rhythms that kept their history in view. Remembering their past\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":97829,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thorns-and-snares\/","url_meta":{"origin":97531,"position":2},"title":"Thorns and Snares","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Luiz Felipe Lima De Albuquerque Thesis: When we make room for sin and other gods, we grow distant from God and lose our identity. \"And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25774,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/counterfeit-sexuality-sexuality-as-identity\/","url_meta":{"origin":97531,"position":3},"title":"Counterfeit Sexuality: Sexuality as Identity","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by\u00a0Ethan R. Longhenry Sexuality remains one of the most sensitive and yet \"hot-button\" issues within our culture and among Christians today. Such a controversial issue features a lot of passion and debate regarding the surface level issues of proper and improper forms of sexuality, and in such an environment, digging\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Woman-with-blank-face-300x209.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":98141,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/end-of-an-era\/","url_meta":{"origin":97531,"position":4},"title":"End of an Era","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores \"So Moses the servant of Yahweh died there in the land of Moab\" (Deuteronomy 34:5). Moses' death marks the end of an era. He didn't enter the land, but he finished his assignment. The text emphasizes his identity: servant of Yahweh. That's the defining description. Moses' legacy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52757,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/trapped-in-a-lie\/","url_meta":{"origin":97531,"position":5},"title":"Trapped in a Lie","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: James 3:8-14 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I ran across an article titled, \u201cThe Philosophical Contradictions of the Transgender Worldview\u201d by Ryan T. Anderson \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The transgender movement claims \u201cthat people are what they claim to be, regardless of contrary evidence.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The lengths the promoters of transgenderism go to deny\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97531\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}