The Things I Write About

The first great commandment as stated in Matthew 22: 37 is “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” The second great commandment is like it as also stated in Matthew 22:39, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” The commandments that Moses received for the people of Israel to follow are commonly known as the Ten Commandments. These commandments stem from the two great commandments. Each commandment will fit into either the love God, or love neighbor category.

Love God:

1. “Thou shalt have no other God’s before me.” (Exodus 20:3)
2. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images” (Exodus 20:4)
3. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)
4. “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8)

Love Neighbor:

5. “Honour thy father and thy mother.” (Exodus 20:12)
6. “Thou shalt not kill.” (Exodus 20:13)
7. “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14)
8. “Thou shalt not steal.” (Exodus 20:15)
9. “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16)
10. “Thou shalt not covet.” (Exodus 20:17)

There are three commandments that I feel are most commonly neglected in the world.

1. “Thou shalt have no other God’s before me.” (Exodus 20:3)
2. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)
3. “Honour thy father and thy mother.” (Exodus 20:12)

While there is no obvious “golden lamb”, the world today is full of idolatry. The worship of idols is apparent by those who choose to put their worldly desire before the Lord. Someone who sacrifices their time to study scriptures to play a video or watch television is guilty of idolatry. I myself have been guilty of that sin. I feel that if the world would put the worship of the Lord before all other things, we would be able to accomplish a lot of good. By taking the time to turn off the TV, and picking up the scriptures or provide service, we strengthen not only our own testimonies, but also strengthen our relationship with God.

I hear almost every day someone taking the name of the Lord in vain. Even in supposedly “family friendly” television shows, I hear it on a constant basis. I can picture a world where the name of our Lord is spoken of in reverence. I feel that if this commandment was followed more closely in the world, the way we would speak to each other would drastically improve. Because we speak of the Lord in reverence, we feel more love, and thus would love others more too. There would be less conflict if this commandment was less neglected than it is now.

The respect a child has for their parents has decreased drastically in today’s world. I myself have been guilty of treating my parents with less respect at times. To truly honour my parents, I must live righteously. I recently saw the latest Transformer movie. In the movie there was a father, daughter and her boy friend. At one point in the movie, the daughter was trapped in a dangerous situation. As the father and the boyfriend went about to rescue her, the boyfriend said something that appalled me. The boyfriend stated to the father that he wasn’t there to rescue the father’s daughter, but that he was there to rescue his girlfriend. I felt that the theme was that parents were not important. Imagine for a moment if every child desired to honour their parents. By living in a way that would always bring honour, would bring peace to a devastated world. For a child to honour parents who do not honour God’s commands, that child must be obedient to God. That is why righteousness is the true way to honour ones parents.