“Somebody recently figured out that we have 35 million laws to enforce the Ten Commandments.” (Earl Wilson)
The Ten Commandments (Decalogue) are the orders God gave to the people of Israel through Moses after leading them out of Egypt. They are recorded in Exodus 20:1-17 (and Deuteronomy 5:6-21). The Ten Commandments are a summary of the hundreds of laws found in the Old Testament that are the basis for moral, spiritual, and ethical conduct for everyone.
Today's society embraces cultural relativism, which is an idea that rejects absolute truth. God gave us the absolute truth in the inspired Word of God. Through the Ten Commandments, God offered basic rules of behavior for living upright and spiritual lives.
These guidelines outline the absolutes of decency that God intended for us. The Ten Commandments apply to two areas of our life: the first five pertain to our relationship with the Heavenly Father. The last five deal with our relationships with other people. Below is a great memory device (for adult and child alike) to remembering the real messages of The Ten Commandments:
1. Hold up 1 finger: This means that God comes first. So the first commandment is “Do not worship anything other than the one true God. “
2. Hold up 2 fingers: There are two gods is too many gods. So the second commandment is “Don’t let anything take the place of God in your life. An idol can be anything (or anyone) that has your time, attention, affections, and your worship.”
3. Hold up 3 fingers: It looks like a “W,” which means watch your words. So the third commandment is “Because of God's importance, His name is always to be spoken of reverently and with respect. “
4. Hold up 4 fingers: It looks like the thumb is resting. So the fourth commandment is “Set aside a regular day each week for rest and worship of the Lord.”
5. Hold up 5 fingers: It looks like I’m making a promise. So the fifth commandment is “Give honor to your father and mother by treating them with respect and obedience.”
6. Hold up 6 fingers: The finger looks like it is shooting the hand. So the sixth commandment is, “Do not deliberately kill a fellow human being. Don't hate people or hurt them with words and actions..”
7. Hold 7 fingers: The fingers look like people getting married. So the seventh commandment is “God forbids sex outside of the bounds of marriage. Respect your body and other people's bodies.”
8. Hold up 8 fingers: It looks like bars to a jail cell. So the eighth commandment is “Do not take anything that doesn't belong to you (unless you have been given permission to do so).”
9. Hold up 9 fingers: It looks like the thumb is telling lies about the fingers on the other hand. So the ninth commandment is “Do not tell a lie about someone. Always tell the truth.
10. Hold up 10 fingers: Wiggle those fingers because it looks like you want what isn’t yours. So the tenth commandment is “Do not desire anything (or anyone) that does not belong to you.”
“We must not see the Ten Commandments as limitations to liberty. No, they are not this, but we must see them as indications for liberty. They are not limitations, but indications for liberty. They teach us to avoid the slavery to which the many idols reduce us that we build ourselves. We have experienced this so many times in history, and we are experiencing it also today…” (Pope Francis)[i]
[i] Sources used:
· “Fun Way to Memorize the Ten Commandments” by Michelle
· “What Are the Ten Commandments?” Mary Fairchild
No comments:
Post a Comment