Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments written by God and given to Moses on Mount Sinai, show us the way to salvation through Jesus.
Commandment I
I, the Lord, am your God. You shall not have other gods besides me.
When God
created us, He wanted us to get to know and love Him just like He knows and loves us. But often we find more important things in life
like television, computers, sport, cars or (fill in the blank) and forget about God, are
purpose in life. It is necessary for us to love God with all our heart, with all our soul,
with all our strength, and with our entire mind and not allow anything to take God’s
place.
We should also respect and love all the Saints of God so that they continue to help and pray for us.
To use God’s Name
in vain is to say God’s Name in circumstances other than speaking directly to God, or
speaking about God in conservation.
Anyone that misuses God’s Name is guilty. They therefore have sinned and are
deserving of punishment.
God’s name should be spoken with respect, and prayed with love and care.
Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.
The Lord Our God worked for six days, creating the heavens and the earth, and on the
seventh day He rested. God also wants us to do all our work within six days and wants us
to rest on the seventh day like. God does not want for us to work, nor anyone in the
family, not even our pets, not even the stranger standing in our gate. In this holy day,
God wants us to pray to Him and think about how much He loves us.
This holy day was originally a Saturday, but through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the sending of the Holy Spirit on the Sunday, the Church moved the Holy Day to Sunday.
Honour your father and your mother.
To honour your father and mother means to give them respect. With this Commandment, God
promised us that if we honour our father and mother, then we would live long in the land
that the Lord Our God has given us.
God gave us life, and wants us to share this gift with our parents. This gift is also
shared with our brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and they should be
given the same respect us your parents.
However, there are times that we should not listen to are parents, only if their word is against God’s Commandments. God states clearly that ‘ Men should seek the honour or approval that comes from God instead of the approval of men. ’ John 12:43.
You shall not kill.
God gave each of us the gift of life, and He wants us to respect this gift with everyone else.
"Kill" means to cause death to another human. But it doesn’t only mean this; it also refers to hate, fighting (causing pain to another), mistreatment, rejection, arguing, suicide and jealously. Through these things we are killing the gift that God gave us. We must love others us we love ourselves, we must remember that life is precious.
Jesus teaches us about murder: "You have heard that people have been told in past, ‘Do not commit murder; anyone who does will be brought to trial.’ But now I tell you: whoever is angry with his brother will be brought to trial, whoever calls his brother ‘You good-for-nothing!’ will be brought before the Council, and whoever calls his brother a worthless fool will be in danger of going to the fire of hell." Matt 5:21-22
You shall not commit adultery.
When man and
wife get married, God joins the couple as one. The couple promise God that this love will
only be between them.
However, when
people are not married this Commandment is a reminder to be faithful to the ones we know
and to honour them and ourselves.
Jesus teaches us about
lust, "You have heard that it was said, 'Do
not commit adultery.’ But now I tell you: anyone who looks at a woman and wants to
posses her in guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart. So if your right eye
causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose one
part of your body than to have your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand
causes you to sin, cut if off and throw it away! It is better for you to lose one of your
limbs than for your whole body to go into hell."
Matt 5:27-30
Jesus also teaches us, "It was also said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife
must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But now I tell you: if man divorces his
wife, for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, then he is guilty of making her commit
adultery if she marries again; and the man who marries her commits adultery also."
Matt 5:31-32
There are many things that lead to this sin: Unrestrained uses of food and drink, bad company, bad texture (magazines), dirty dancing, certain clothing and certain celebrations.
In order to be cleaned from this sin it is
necessary do the following: repent your sins, stop doing things that may lead you to this
sin, pray (especially to Mary) and go to frequent Confession and Communion.
Commandment VII
You shall not steal.
To "steal"
means to take from another person something that does not belong to you.
The things that belong to us are dear to us. We perhaps earned these things through
hard work or saving up for a very long time. However we wouldn’t want these things
taken from us.
Taking belongings from someone without their permission is wrong and unlawful, as
is dishonesty with others (with deals, wages, ideas.) Also trying to get something for
nothing or less than what it actually is worth is also a sin.
You shall not bear false witness.
"False" means not true, wrong, lying, dishonest, incorrect. Every lie
hurts others and us, whereas the truth makes us happy. Whenever we lie to get out of
trouble we our hurting others, as well as hurting our respect for ourselves.
Jesus teaches people that lie, "You are the children of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. From the very beginning he was a murderer and has never been on the side of truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8:44
People bear false witness when they: make up stories about someone, give wrong
impressions of some things on purpose, withhold information on purpose to lead someone to
the wrong conclusion, actions that show you to be one way while inside you think quite a
different way, think one way and react in a completely different way, tell secrets to
others.
You shall not covet your neighbour's wife.
God joins two people together through the sacrament of marriage. The couple promise God to keep their love only between themselves. God does not want another male or female destroying the gift that He has given the couple.
(This Command is very similar to Commandment IV)
You shall not covet your neighbour's goods.
"Covet" means to want with great desire, to wish for in envy.
Wanting someone else’s pet, car, house, job, money respect, looks, boat, figure,
lifestyle, property, wife, ……., is
covet for something that isn’t ours.
It is also wrong to gamble, because through gambling we are looking for a change in our luck, perhaps for a better life style, and do not go through God to live His Way for His glory. It is therefore important for us to thank God for the gifts that He has given us, and the lifestyle that we have led so far. We need to be happy for those people that have the things that we would love to have and not treat them differently because of this.
But the greatest Commandment given to us is: “Love the Lord Your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and Love your neighbour as you love yourself.” Luke 10:27