Life, commands, and fulfillment
10 Things You Should Know About The Ten Commandments
If I knew and understood these things earlier on in life, I wouldn't have found myself alone in the darkest nights
When I attended Sunday school as a little girl, the teacher would pick a random verse from the bible and read it to me and the other kids. I didn’t know what happened in the chapter before and after that and how it all came to be.
One random verse at a time didn't really help me understand the universe. I don’t recall being told that I needed to read the bible as a book to truly and deeply understand the universe and who God really is.
I couldn’t put the random verses together and therefore couldn't put the pieces of the puzzle together. I couldn’t comprehend all of it, but I went to church anyway because my mom was going.
Here are ten things I wish I knew about the commandments earlier on in life:
1. Other Gods Are a Waste of Time
“You shall have no other gods before me.”
I was lucky to be brought up knowing that I could have no other gods, but I've seen people pray to certain things and later realize it's not working out. When we awaken, we are tempted to experiment with life to find the truth, but in a spiritual world, there are good and bad spirits hovering over the earth. There will be lying and deceiving spirits promising you health, wealth, and peace — something they'll fail to deliver.
When we awaken, we learn about angels, archangels, and spirit guides and we are tempted to ask them for help instead of asking the creator of the angels, archangels, and the guides.
When God saved the Israelites from Pharoah, He made His angels go before the people to protect them, and while it’s a privilege for God to assign you an angel; it becomes a problem when you’re looking up at the angel instead of God. It becomes an even bigger problem when it makes you turn your face away from God.
2. Idols and Pedestals Are Silly
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.”
Although I didn’t turn my face to other gods, my eyes weren’t fixed on the one and only God. Although I created no idols of silver and gold, I idolized certain people, places, and things in my life. I was worshipping certain men I adored and looking up at human beings when I was supposed to be looking up at the creator of heaven, earth, and the men I adored. I’m not proud of it because placing people and things on a pedestal never ended well for me. The people on pedestals always seem to disappoint.
During a spiritual awakening, it’s normal for us to want to explore different practices and rituals in order to find the truth, but before we know it, we are following weird practices and carving images for an altar that closely resembles idolatry.
Before we know it, we are so taken away by the sun and the moon that we worship and look up at it for guidance and directions. While there’s nothing wrong to adore and admire the sun and the moon, strength doesn’t come from the sun and the moon. It comes from the one who created the sun and the moon. And besides, the sun and the moon won't be able to help me.
3. Cursing in His Name is Disrespectful
“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.”
I’ve said “Goddamnit” plenty of times without thinking about it and I’ve screamed “Oh my God” lots of times. I never thought anything of it. I thought it was a normal thing to do. But I don't think it's so cool now that I know better and I'm careful not to misuse a name so powerful.
If someone said “Kimberlydamnit,” I don’t know how I’d feel about it. It’d be a bit weird. So how does He really feel about it? And if He keeps hearing His name used in vain, how can we expect Him to come and help when we desperately need Him to? When we are seriously calling out? Why are we surprised when He doesn't show up for us when we use His name that way?
Before really understanding what the commandments really were and that I was supposed to live by them, it seemed innocent.
Using the name in vain is worse when you say “I swear to God” while lying. Swearing to God puts Him in the middle of something He knows nothing of.
It’s wrong to use God's name to justify plain sinful behavior and even worse to pretend to know the mind of God.
We must obey the commandments not just because it's what God says, but because it's the right thing to do.
4. Resting is Healing
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God.”
A commandment to rest is a very important one that many of us don’t obey. We work and we work until our bodies are too tired and break down on us. I worked my soul to lost lands because I didn't know any better.
I worked, and I worked in my fields yet I reaped no harvest. Seven days I labored and because my body was overwhelmed and my spirit depleted, my hard work never seemed to pay off. I wasn’t fulfilled.
Without this commandment, I would work every day of the week and end up killing myself.
This commandment is there so we can stop, pause and take a break every now and then. It’s good for the body, mind, and soul when I take a day off to clear my cluttered mind.
5. It’s Good Fortune to Respect Our Elders
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you.”
What makes this law so important? A happy society is based on respect, honor, and obedience to elders and authority while not being afraid to stand up for yourself when you need to.
This commandment makes me think of Mary, mother of Jesus, and why certain people pray to her to honor her as the mother of Christ because without her, there would be no Jesus. Honoring the mother and father honors and shows respect to the creator, who revealed Himself as the father of man.
Honoring my mother means taking care of her in her old days. It’s doing things that make her happy. Honoring my father (rip) is preserving his memories and letting them live on forever.
Life never improves when we are actively sinning and disobeying the words that were written by the finger of God.
6. Murder is Madness
“You shall not murder.”
Crime has become a huge threat to civilization and I'm sure God knew this the moment Cain killed Abel. I can only imagine how shocked he was to see the first bloodshed on the earth.
This command refers to unlawful killing because there are, in fact, several occasions in Scripture where God orders His people to take the lives of others.
God is the giver and taker of life. He’s the only one that can give and take without question. God puts such much value on human life that those who take it unjustly forfeit their right to live. We were created in God’s image, and our life is a gift that must be protected and preserved.
7. Adultery is Disrespectful
“You shall not commit adultery.”
Adultery is breaking the marriage commitment by sleeping with someone other than the person you made vows to. Today, this commandment seems to be broken on a consistent basis even among people of God.
Adultery is humiliating for the other spouse.
When you commit adultery, you aren't only breaking a promise to your partner, you're breaking a promise to God and also to the entire world. The damages of adultery can be long-lasting and cause damage to the heart of the other person.
This commandment was written to protect the sanctity of marriage and show the importance of commitment and faithfulness.
8. Stealing is Stealing
“You shall not steal.”
There are too many reasons we give to justify stealing. We don't have enough. Others have too much and won't miss what's stolen. But stealing is wrong nonetheless.
Stealing is proclaiming that we don't have enough of our own and that we may never be blessed enough to get it on our own.
When we take what does not belong to us, we rob others of what's rightfully theirs. We deprive others of reaping what they’ve sown regardless of whether we think they deserve it or not.
9. It’s Nothing But The Truth
“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”
This commandment is against all kinds of lies. Lying is misleading and leads people away from the truth.
Lying is a quick and easy way out, but lying holds you back from being the person you came here to be. It holds you back from speaking your truth.
It also holds others back from taking action and making the right decisions with the information they have.
I always feel bad right after lying. I ask myself why I am lying? What am I afraid of? Why can’t I just do the right thing and be bold enough to speak the truth? Why is it so hard not to lie?
I lie because I don’t want to give out all the information. I lie to keep details of my life private. It doesn’t hurt, but it doesn’t feel very good.
The truth helps others and most importantly helps you feel better. I feel great when I tell the truth and not be afraid. It makes me confident. I can live a righteous life and not need to lie all the time.
This commandment is necessary and forbids anything that is far from the truth. The truth may hurt, but it saves you from years of wasting time believing lies and living misinformed.
10. If It's Not Yours, It's Not Yours
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
There’s a trap that holds us back in our search for peace and joy, and it's that little voice that deceives us by telling us that what we have is not enough and that we must take what belongs to others to feel fulfilled.
Taking what's not yours does not bring peace and joy instead it infects your mind with shame and guilt robbing you of any chance to be joy and peace.
It’s when greed takes over, when we covet what others have, that our pain and suffering begin.
We may not even associate our suffering with taking things that do not belong to us and we go on in life wondering why God never blesses us and our life doesn’t seem to improve.
Life never improves when we are actively sinning and disobeying the words that were written by the finger of God.
When you constantly disobey the commandments of God, you’ll wonder why nothing good ever happens and why you’re always unhappy, even after having a spiritual awakening.
Final Thoughts
The reason I didn't obey some of the commandments was that I didn't really understand them. I went to church as a religious duty and not because I really understood what it was all about and why I was even going.
Now that I’m an adult and ready to live and do the work that I came here to do, I need to obey these commandments, not just because it's what God says, but because it's the right thing to do.
Disobeying the commandments may seem like something you can get away with as a child, but you grow up and you realize that something is missing from your life and it may be hard to figure out what it is.
When you constantly disobey the commandments, you'll wonder why nothing good ever happens and why you're always unhappy, even after having a spiritual awakening.
I didn’t know the ten commandments were spiritual laws put in place to help me live a fruitful and fulfilling life in this lifetime and the next. I now understand these commandments were written not to restrict me, but to keep me safe in this life, the next, and in between.
The Ten Commandments are recorded in the Bible in Exodus 20:1 — 17 and Deuteronomy 5:6 — 21.
