NOTES for Lev 19:1-2
The Lord ends almost every one of His commands with the words: "I am the Lord your God." Why? What should this remind us of, and how can it help when the commandments appear impossible for us to fulfill? These words are the opening words of the first commandment among the ten chief commandments. If it is absent, the other commandments are absent as well. The Lord is our God; He created us, created us in His image and likeness, He gave us life and freedom, and He loves us. And He asks us to be holy as He is holy. Yes, we are sinners; we cannot do this. But the Gospel says that this is impossible for man, but all things are possible for God. In some ways we are already like Him. A saint is one who belongs to God. This means that the more we give God our life and ourselves, the more we will be like Him, and the more our true essence, what He created us to be, will be revealed in us.