Here are the Ten commandments that the Lord gives unto Moses
and the Israelites:
- Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
- Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
- Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord they God in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath day, to keep is holy.
- Honour thy father and thy mother.
- Thou shalt not kill.
- Thou shalt not commit adultery.
- Thou shalt not steal.
- Thou shalt not bear false witness.
- Thou shalt not covet.
In Matthew 22: 36-40 Jesus is asked by one of the Pharisees “Master,
which is the great commandment in the law?” This question was posed more to
trick the Savior, but His response brought more insight to all the commandments
of the Lord. Jesus said “thou shalt love the Lord thy God…this is the first and
great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Jesus’ last sentence shows us the simplicity
of all God’s commandments. If we truly love the Lord and our neighbor, we would
never break any of these commandments because they would ultimately hurt the
Lord or our neighbor or both. If we truly love our Lord, we will have a desire
to do whatever He asks and love all of His children as He loves us. If we were to break up the Ten Commandments,
we see that the first five have to do with loving the Lord and the last five
have to do with loving our neighbor.
Our world today struggles with every one of these
commandments and I think that is why we have so many problems in our world. If
I were to pick which three the world struggles with the most I would choose
these:
- Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image
- Thou shalt not commit adultery
- Thou shalt not bear false witness
“Modern idols or false gods can take such forms as clothes,
homes, businesses, machines, automobiles, pleasure boats, and numerous other
mater deflectors from the path to godhood.” (Elder Spencer W. Kimball) Today
many of us base our whole life around acquiring these goods for our happiness.
If we focus too much on our desire to obtain these worldly things, they ultimately
replace God as the forefront of our worship and deter us off our track to
worshiping the Lord.
“The covenant of marriage, this sacred thing which was to go
on eternally, was the heavenly institution which God provided under which his
mortal children on earth were to reproduce themselves. There should be no human
sex relationship outside of marriage.” (Mark E. Petersen) This is such a
problem in today’s world. The family unit is being degraded by the choice not
to follow God’s commandment to have no sex relationship outside of marriage.
Think of how many children today are born in a home with only a single mother
or are aborted before they even have a chance of life because bad choices were
made. The divorce rate is at a staggering 50% in this country. Much of it is
attributed to spouse’s infidelity and non-commitment to a marriage. This can
have very negative effects on the family and the whole world.
“Whereas murder involves the taking of human life, bearing
false witness centers in the destruction of character or its defamation. It
reaches to the ruin of reputation.” (Adam S. Bennion) I feel like everywhere I
turn there are lies being posted on the internet, TV., news articles, etc. It
is becoming more and more acceptable to lie and tell half untruths in our
society and because of it no one wants to believe anyone anymore. There is so
much dishonesty around that people question a lot of what people say and their
motives behind what they say. This is so sad because it degrades people and their
reputation.
Our world would be a completely different place if people were
to keep even just the Ten Commandments. All the thoughtless impulsive murders
would stop. People would be able trust each other’s words and be able to leave
their doors unlocked and not worry about someone breaking in. People would have more love and understanding
for their neighbors and the people around them. The world would be such a
peaceful and loving place if everyone loved the Lord and their neighbor.
