Leviticus 11:44
For I, the Lord, an your God; and you shall make and keep yourselves holy, because I am holy.
The past few chapters seems like a list of rules and directions of how to do things according to God's instructions. It almost seems like the rules are created to make the Israelites jump through hoops. You start to wonder about the meaning of all these rules and regulations. But here you see the meaning. They are all because the Lord wants them to be holy as he is holy. When it is stated this way, the rules are not created out of power but out of the Lord's love for his people. They are meant for their good, so they can become more holy.
Just as the rules and regulations in the Old Testament are meant to make the Israelites more holy, what may seem like arbitrary rules and constricting teachings that the Church teaches today are not meant to hold us back or prevent us from doing something but are meant to help us grow closer the the Lord and to heaven.
Dear Lord, Help us to understand that your laws are made out of love for us. Help us to follow them out of love for you.
