Leviticus 21:1-6: in context

God gives special instructions for the priests, holding them to a standard of holiness higher than others, because of who they were and what they did. They were to keep themselves from certain defilements, to avoid the practices of mourning that others followed, to be set apart. And the reason is given: they shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of the LORD, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. Because they served God and bore his name, they were to live in a way that honored it rather than profaning it.

The reason for the priests' higher standard is that they represented God and bore his name. They offered the offerings of the LORD; they served in his presence; they stood before the people as those who belonged to God in a special way. And because of this, their conduct reflected on God himself; their holiness or their sin would honor or profane his name. So they were called to be holy, to live in a way that honored the God they represented, not profaning his name by an unholy life. Those who bear God's name and serve him carry a responsibility to honor it by their holiness. This principle reaches to all who belong to God, for in Christ all his people are made a priesthood. You are a royal priesthood, Peter says, a holy nation, God's own people. We who belong to Christ bear his name; we represent him; we are known as his. And this carries the same responsibility the priests bore: to live in a way that honors God's name rather than profaning it. Our conduct reflects on the God we represent; by our holiness we honor his name, and by our sin we profane it before those who watch us. The name of God, Paul warns, is blasphemed among the nations because of some who bear it and yet live unworthily. Those who bear God's name have a responsibility to honor it by their lives. This searches how our lives reflect on the God we represent. We who belong to Christ bear his name; and the question is whether our conduct honors it or profanes it. Do we live in a way that honors the God whose name we bear, so that others are drawn to glorify him? Or do we, by an unholy life, profane his name, giving others reason to blaspheme the God we claim to serve? Let your light shine before others, Jesus says, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Our holiness honors God's name before others; our sin profanes it. This calls us to holiness for the sake of the name we bear. The priests were called to be holy and not profane God's name because they served him and represented him; and we who belong to Christ, a royal priesthood bearing his name, are likewise called to live in a way that honors God's name rather than profaning it, so that our conduct reflects well on the God we represent and leads others to glorify him.

As one who belongs to Christ and bears his name, does my conduct honor the God I represent or profane his name before those who watch me, and can the priests, called to be holy and not profane the name of their God because they served him, together with the truth that all Christ's people are a royal priesthood bearing his name, move me to holiness for the sake of the name I bear, so that my life reflects well on the God I represent and leads others to glorify him rather than blaspheme?