By Pastor Shana Wise
Observing the condition of the world in which we live today, the morality of our society is becoming more and more irrelevant. I believe this is due to the lack of righteousness within the systems of the world. Some of these systems include the media, educational system, government, healthcare, entertainment, and religious institutions.
In the USA, the ten commandments were taken out of all the educational and governmental institutions years ago, and the use of the name God or Jesus is very rarely heard or prohibited. Since that time, we have seen morality with our society decline year by year. Once a country founded on Christian principles, today in 2021 we have come so far away from the original foundation.
The ten commandments given by God is like a mirror, it shows us who we are in the flesh, meaning if we do not keep these commandments then we do the opposite of what they say not to do by the way of our sin nature.
These commandments are the foundation for all other commandments given by God in his Word. Keeping these commandments should keep us out of trouble, however, we should keep them not just to please God, but we should keep them because we love God. John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments”.
All the commandments God has given us in the bible is because He loves us and He wants what’s best for us on earth. Commandments are given to keep us from having unnecessary and self-inflicted pain and heartache. It keeps us focused on the Kingdom of God (eternal) rather than earthly conveniences which are temporary. The commandments of God are to serve as our moral compass on earth.
Lastly keeping God’s commandments is a form of worship. John 4: 23-24 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Let us examine the Ten Commandments and see how they are still relevant in the world today.
Ten Commandments Discussion and Worksheet
Exodus 20:1-17 NKJV
And God spoke all these words, saying:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
· Another “god” is anything, person, or place that you worship more than the living God.
· It is so ironic that the first commandment is the one that is most often broken in our lives. We put so many other things before God, such as celebrities, agendas, our careers, money, social media, and the list goes on.
· What do you see in our society where this commandment is broken? What “god” is currently competing with your time of serving and worshipping the True and Living God?
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4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
· Question: What is the difference between this commandment and the first one? Answer: Making an image of God, or anything in heaven, earth, or the water. Worshipping objects rather than the creator.
· Romans 1:24-25 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
· It is dangerous to worship images because they can lead us down a path of destruction. Read Romans 1:18-32.
· What are some examples today that where we see this happening, within our personal lives and in society?
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7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
· Many people think that taking God’s name in vain is by swearing or cursing, but it is much deeper than that. God is Holy and we should treat and honor his name as so. Yet, in our society, we see the name used commonly without any reverence. “Oh, God”, “Jesus”, “Jesus Christ”, “Holy Cow”, are examples of how we may just freely reference God without reverencing him.
· It is so ironic how in the movies and tv the actors can curse his name so much over and over but if we try to say the name of Jesus on television, it’s is condemned. We must be careful what we watch and hear on television especially when we hear others using God’s name in vain. It should bother us and make us feel uncomfortable enough to turn away.
· What is another example of the way we can use his name in vain?
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8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it, you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
· God never intended nor created us to work every single day of our lives. God rested on the seventh day after He created the universe and if resting is good enough for God, it should be good enough for us as well.
· There are Christians who reverence the Sabbath day on Saturday or Sunday and they usually have their worship services on those days. Unfortunately, many jobs, especially in the USA require people to work on those days. Over the years, I have prayed about the issue of working on the Sabbath, and one day God gave me this scripture: Matthew 12:7-8, But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” This scripture helped me view the Sabbath in the spiritual, Jesus Christ is Lord over our lives and we should worship him not just on the Sabbath but every day. I tell the ones who truly love God, but have to work on the Sabbath to let their light shine at work and bring the Good News through their presence. We as the local church also need to find out how we can still keep those connected when they are unable to attend worship service.
· The bottom line is that God wants us to set a day apart out of our seven-day week, to not work, and worship Him.
· How can you do better at reverencing God on the Sabbath?
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12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
· This commandment is very straightforward. There is a blessing with honoring and obeying your parents. In this scripture, the promised blessing is that your day will belong on the land.
· Once again, unfortunately in the day and time, we live in we do not see children honoring their parents and there are many reasons for this. Why do you think there is a breakdown of this commandment in families?
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13 “You shall not murder.
· Here is another straightforward commandment, however, murder is running ramped in our land. Why do you think this is happening?
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· To murder means to physically kill someone. Yet, if we hate someone deep down in our heart, or verbally say “I hate you”, that is a form of “spiritual murder”. Why? because God is the creator of all, and if we hate someone else, then essentially, we are telling God he made a mistake by creating them, and God is Holy, He does not make mistakes.
· Read Genesis 4:1-15. One of the first sins that took place outside the Garden of Eden was murder. Cain killed his brother Abel, but before he killed him, he hated him in his heart. Cain had an anger problem and his anger led to hate and this hate led to the killing. God confronted Cain before he killed Abel, but Cain’s heart was resistant to God’s word.
· What areas in your heart, (specifically anger, unforgiveness, or hate) that you need to confess to God about? What is causing you to resist letting go of it? Do you believe God can heal you from your past?
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14 “You shall not commit adultery.
· To commit adultery means to cheat on your spouse sexually.
· It also means to cheat on God by worshipping other gods.
· The institution of marriage has been under attack for years in the USA and globally. Divorce is at an all-time high and the very definition of marriage has been reassigned within our legal system in America. Adultery is common and sometimes glorified in marriage.
· Why do you believe God does not want us to commit adultery? How would it affect your relationship with Him?
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15 “You shall not steal.
· Stealing is taking something that does not belong to you. Has someone ever stolen from you? How did it make you feel?
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· What God has for you is for you. If you want something but cannot have or afford to buy it, then it is not meant for you to have it at that time. Working for something and then buying it when you have the money to do so, makes you value and appreciate it even more. Stolen things cannot bring blessings to you or your home. God does not bless disobedience.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
· To bear false witness to your neighbor mean to tell a lie about them.
· Has anyone ever told a lie about you? How did it make you feel?
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· Lies have resulted in innocent people losing their lives. Lies created distrust within relationships. Lies hurt people. Lies can cause wars. Spreading lies about other people can cause major damage, and when you tell a lie about someone to hurt them, in actuality you are hurting yourself because once again God does not bless people who lie.
· The God we serve is a God of Truth and Love, and he expects his children to demonstrate these attributes within our communities.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
· This is a huge problem in today's society. It seems like we are living in a world of competition with one another. Many people want what someone else has because of what they perceive.
· We are daily bombarded with concepts, commercials, and other outlets to make us believe that we are missing out on something because someone else has it.
· Once again, what God has for us is for us. Jealousy, envy, greed, power, and control are some of the spirits that will lead us to covet what someone else has.
· The remedy is keeping all the commandments of God is having a relationship with Him and worshipping Him in Spirit and Truth.
The Ten Commandment Summed Up
Worship God in Spirit and Truth
Mark 12:28-31
Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”
29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
· Keeping the commandments of God is easy especially when we have a relationship through his son Jesus Christ. Jesus came to destroy the power of sin over our lives. Sure, we are going to make mistakes, mess up, and break the commandments from time to time and God knows this. The important thing to remember is the conviction that comes through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will convict us when we sin, and our response should be to repent, which means to confess and stop walking in sin.
· More than anything, God wants to have a relationship with his children. We formed this relationship through fellowship and worshipping him. To help aide in this walk with God is to read and study our word, pray and meditate, obey, and keep his commandments.
About the Author
Dr. Shana Wise is an ordained Pastor and CEO of Wise Choice Ministries (est. 2016). She is the founder of The Well Christian Women’s Network formally known as Christian Women Preachers United. Dr. Wise is the author of women’s devotional, Acts of Intercession, and The Impact of Your Election (available on Amazon). She received a Doctor of Divinity degree in 2019 from St. Thomas Christian University. Her passion is to teach and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, equip others to apply the Word to their lives, and demonstrate the Word through the power of the Holy Spirit. She is a televangelist that appears on social media outlets and television. Shana is married to Ron Wise and is the mother of four children.
Books available on Amazon at:
Acts of Intercession
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1721143629/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_BuKbFb8FMZHEB
The Impact of Your Election
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1792003307/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_vvKbFbA33J669
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