Do you ever have trouble following rules because you feel like they restrict you in some way? The Lord has given us the Ten Commandments not to take away our freedom but rather to allow us to be truly free. St John Paul II said “freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in doing what we ought” 

The CCC 2057 states that the Ten Commandments first must be understood in the context of Exodus when God liberates his people from Egypt. By giving the Ten Commandments God is revealing His Will and thus revealing His heart to us. “In making his Will known God reveals himself to his people.” CCC 2059

The Catechism explains that it is in the New Covenant that Jesus affirms the validity of the Ten Commandments when he responds to the rich young man to keep the commandments in order to attain eternal life. In a different gospel passage when someone asks Him which one is the greatest commandment He replies you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and the second is you shall love your neighbor as yourself. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus not only confirms the commandments, He elevates them. 

The First three commandments include love of God and the last seven are about love of neighbor.

The Ten Commandments 

1. I am the Lord your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me.
2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day. 
4. Honor your father and your mother. 
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit adultery. 
7. You shall not steal. 
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 
9. You shall covet tour neighbor’s wife.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods. 

The CCC 2071 explains that God has written natural law on the hearts of every human being, but God need to reveal the Ten Commandments because of our fallen human condition. He has given us His Commandments to clearly show how he wants us to live. 

These commandments can be difficult to follow but “what God commands he makes possible by his grace.“ CCC 2082

We live in a culture where some believe that there is no moral absolute. However, if we truly embrace the Ten Commandments as a sign of God’s love for us, and not His control, we can pursue the genuine freedom that He created us for. We can become truly free when we follow His Law, which is His Will and also His heart. 

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