THE TEN
COMMANDMENTS
Introduction
Most people know the Ten Commandments —
or perhaps it is better to say that they think
they know the Ten Commandments.
The commandments are one of those
cultural products that people imagine that
they understand, but in reality, they
frequently can't even name all of them, let
alone explain them.
The Ten Commandments
The basic law of the covenant is summarized
in the TEN COMMANDMENTS.
The ten commandments describe man’s part of
the covenant.
The ten commandments are our safest guide
on our journey to God.
The Ten Commandments
Every man on earth finds deep in his heart a
law that tells him to do good and to avoid evil.
However, deciding what is good and what is
evil may sometimes be more difficult.
God has made this easier for man by
giving him the ten commandments.
What do you think the
commandments are for?
God’s love for Israel (like the love of a father to
his son) means wanting the best for Israel and
helping His people live correctly and uprightly.
The rules are meant to help the Israelites
become a better people just our rules are
meant to help us become better persons.
.
You shall love the Lord your God You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your with all your heart, with all your
soul, with all your mind, and with soul, with all your mind, and with
all your strength. all your strength.
You shall
love your
neighbor
as
yourself.
You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, with all your soul, with all your
mind, and with all your strength.
Mark 12:30-31
1. I am the LORD your God: you shall not
have strange gods before me.
Its meaning
There is only one God.
He is the source of all that we are and have.
Our whole life depends on Him.
From Him we come, and to Him we must go.
He deserves to be at the center of all our
thoughts, desires and deeds.
1. I am the LORD your God: you shall not
have strange gods before me.
Its meaning
He is a personal and loving God.
He calls each one of us into a personal
relationship with Him.
To protect and deepen that relationship must be
our greatest ambition and the purpose of all we
do.
An everything we do must be for the greater
glory and honor of God.
1. I am the LORD your God: you shall not
have strange gods before me.
Its Implication
We may not make ourselves any false god or
idol.
We should not let anyone or anything come
between God and ourselves.
No man on earth, no thing or ambition may ever
become more important to us than God.
1. I am the LORD your God: you shall not
have strange gods before me.
Its Implication
We may not resort to astrology, palmistry or
other forms of fortune telling or predicting to the
future because it is God himself who holds our
life and future in His hands.
1. I am the LORD your God: you shall not
have strange gods before me.
VALUES
God as first priority
2. You shall not take the name of the
LORD your God in vain.
Its meaning
God is identified with His name.
Therefore, we should use His name with the
greatest respect.
Respect for God’s name is respect for God
Himself.
Whatever we do or promise in the name of God
must be kept Holy.
2. You shall not take the name of the
LORD your God in vain.
Its meaning
Whenever, we pray to God or worship Him, we
do so with respect and reverence and with all our
heart, acknowledging His supremacy, His
greatness and goodness.
Respect for God’s name includes respect for his
word in the bible, for the people and things or
places consecrated to Him.
2. You shall not take the name of the
LORD your God in vain.
Its implication
Disrespectful language or swearing, blasphemy
and profanity must be avoided at all coast.
We should never pray to God with the lips only,
while our heart and mind is set on other things.
We should never make a promise or take an oath
calling on God as our witness, unless we
honestly intend to keep.
2. You shall not take the name of the
LORD your God in vain.
Its implication
We should never ridicule or laugh at persons
things or services dedicated or consecrated to
God.
We should not joke people who pray or xpress
their faith in God.
2. You shall not take the name of the
LORD your God in vain.
Values
Respect for God’s name, sacred persons, places,
things
3. Remember to keep holy the LORD’s Day.
Its meaning
Our lives come from God. All we need in life also
comes from God’s providence.
Though man has to work for his own
sustenance, without God’s blessing, his work
will be in vain.
Man must put aside one day a week to reflect
upon these truths, to express his gratitude to
God. To be with God and his family.
3. Remember to keep holy the LORD’s Day.
Its meaning
It must be a day of redirecting one’s life to God
and his family, a day of spiritual growth.
3. Remember to keep holy the LORD’s Day.
Its Implication
Man should refrain from hard work or any
material occupation which will keep him away
from God and his family on that day.
Christians must participate in the celebration of
the Eucharist.
There they will receive their heavenly food that
makes them strong to carry out their task
throughout the week.
3. Remember to keep holy the LORD’s Day.
Its Implication
The eucharist is celebration of gratitude for and
with the whole Christian community.
Christian makes Sunday their special day,
because it the day of Christ’s resurrection and
new life.
3. Remember to keep holy the LORD’s Day.
Values
Sunday worship and rest
4. Honor your father and mother.
Its meaning
God has given each person a proper place and
role within the human community.
Each place and role is important and worthy.
To know and accept one’s place and role and
that of others will lead to harmony in the human
community.
4. Honor your father and mother.
Its meaning
There will always be parents and children,
leaders and followers, those who give orders and
those who carry out theses orders.
Obedience and mutual respect are absolutely
necessary.
They show our respect for God and the harmony
he has created in our human community.
4. Honor your father and mother.
Its Implication
Obedience, love and respect must be given to
parents, teachers, and all those who have
received from God any authority in the
community.
Those who have received authority must use it
according to the intentions and purpose of God.
4. Honor your father and mother.
Values
Respect for parents and all legitimate authority
5. You shall not kill.
Its meaning
Life is the most precious gift from God. Nothing
can take its place.
We must always remember that life is a gift
which we receive from God only once.
We must respect, protect and take good care not
only of our own life but the life of others as well.
5. You shall not kill.
Its implication
Any form of killing, maiming, harming, hurting,
endangering or shortening one’s own life or that
of others violates this fifth commandment.
5. You shall not kill.
Values
Respect for life
6. You shall not commit adultery.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
Their meaning
In marriage, man and woman give themselves to
one another as total persons.
Marriage is a holy covenant between husband
and wife.
Only in and through the sacrament of marriage
can man and woman become one.
It is a lasting exclusive relationship between only
one man and one woman.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
Their implication
These commandments condemn the following:
1. Unfaithfulness in marriage
2. The living marital relationship before or outside the
sacrament of marriage and;
3. All the thoughts, acts or desires that could lead or
invite to it.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
Their implication
Free love, live-in, pre-marital sex, indecency and
immodesty, irresponsible use of sex or one’s
procreative faculties are all forbidden by these
two commandments.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
Values
Respect for sexuality as God’s given gift
Clean thoughts
7. You shall not steal.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
Their meaning
God has intended the earth and all it contains for
the use of every human being.
Private ownership of material goods provides
man with the necessary degree of independence
and freedom to live a dignified life.
7. You shall not steal.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
Their Implication
Stealing, that is, taking things without
permission and with the intention of not
returning them, has many forms, such as
shoplifting, overpricing, short-changing,
swindling, and other dishonest acts.
7. You shall not steal.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
Their Implication
Vandalism or willful destruction of property,
usury and cheating in any form and all kinds of
stealing are violations of these two
commandments.
Violations are not only found in the performance
of these acts, but also in the desire or intention
to perform them.
7. You shall not steal.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
Values
Respect for private property, justice,
stewardship
Simplicity, gratitude for one’s blessings
8. You shall not bear false witness against
your neighbor.
Its meaning
God created all men with equal dignity as his
sons and daughters.
Only God has the right to judge people.
Every man has the right to respect, equal
treatment, a good name and reputation.
8. You shall not bear false witness against
your neighbor.
Its implication
This commandment condemns any form of lying,
gossip, envy, jealousy, half truths, insinuations
and the like about one’s fellowmen whether in
thought, word, or deed.
8. You shall not bear false witness against
your neighbor.
Values
Good name, reputation, truthfulness
Conclusion
The ten commandments are given to us by
God as guidelines for our everyday Christian
living.
All our thoughts, words and deeds must be evaluated
in the light of these commandments.
Therefore, it is a must that every Christian knows these
commandments by heart and constantly lives by them.
Questions:
After knowing the values in each
commandment, which commandment would
you consider the most difficult to follow?
Why? What can you do better at keeping it?
