The Ten Commandments!
Here they are:
- · No other gods before the Lord
- · No idol worship
- · Do not take the Lord’s name in vain
- · Keep the Sabbath day holy
- · Honor your parents
- · Don’t kill
- · Be a faithful spouse
- · Do not steal
- · Do not lie
- · Do not covet
Phew (I was worried I would come up with a number other than
10)!
In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus is asked which commandment is the
most important. He answers,
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the
prophets.”
So the Savior tells us that there are
two “great” commandments, loving God, and loving our neighbor. Let’s take
another look at this list with and divide them into these two groups.
Love God:
- · No other gods before the Lord
- · No idol worship
- · Do not take the Lord’s name in vain
- · Keep the Sabbath day holy
- · Do not covet—I put this here because I think coveting shows ingratitude for/ignorance of what the Lord has already blessed us with.
Love your neighbor:
- · Honor your parents
- · Don’t kill
- · Be a faithful spouse
- · Do not steal
- · Do not lie
I think most of these could be put
under the “Love God” category. If you think about it, honoring parents shows
appreciation for the path God has placed you on, even if it’s not ideal, it is
still part of His plan for your growth and progression. Valuing life and
overcoming anger shows a dedication to God (self-mastery), and acknowledgement
of the worth of His creations. Honesty and integrity in your dealings with
others (and yourself) not only honors and amplifies the divine in you, but also
encourages others through your godly example.
So loving your neighbor is inseparable
from loving God (remember the words of the Savior,
The Ten Commandments have
shaped secular law, but what are we forgetting? Are there commandments that
have fallen to the proverbial “wayside?”…was that a stupid question?
The three that come to mind
are worshiping idols, taking the Lord’s name in vain, and keeping the Sabbath day
holy.
I think we are all too
guilty of putting the things of the world first in our lives, and forgetting
that our life’s purpose is doing God’s work. When other things displace God in
our lives, we need to reevaluate whether or not they have become what we
worship.
I’ve just learned that taking
the Lord’s name in vain doesn’t just mean using profanity. When we forget the
covenants we’ve made through baptism or in the Lord’s temples, we are also
violating this commandment.
Most of the world seems to
have entirely forgotten the Lord’s commandment in regards to keeping the Sabbath
day holy. President Spencer W. Kimball said,
“The Sabbath day is given
throughout the generations of man for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign
between the Lord and his children forever. It is a day in which to worship and
to express our gratitude and
appreciation to the Lord. It is a day on which to surrender every worldly
interest and to praise the Lord humbly, for humility is the beginning of
exaltation.”
If we can keep the
commandments fully, and truly seek ways to be obedient….like: it’s pretty easy
for me not to murder, but it might be more of a challenge for me to live fully each
day, truly appreciating the gift that life is. Does that sound hokey? Maybe it
does. How about this: it may be easy not to lie or steal, but it may be more of
a challenge to defend truth, or be generous without expectation of return.
See what I mean? I think
that we may give ourselves credit for not
violating commandments, without doing the hard work of actually fully
living God’s laws in the way he intended.
Remember, the Lord didn’t
give us commandments solely to keep us from harm; He gave them to bring us
closer to Him, because He loves us.
Please see the Old Testament LDS Institute Manual for more in depth discussion and lots of other great
stuff!
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