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The Ten Commandments  
(God's Law)


It is important to understand that these laws were not given to us so that we could follow them perfectly and thus earn our way to heaven since no one, other than Christ Himself, could get through life without ever breaking at least one of these.  These laws were given to us by God to show that we have messed up and therefore need the salvation offered to us by the death of Jesus Christ on a cross.



 1. I am the Lord your God.  You shall have no other gods before Me.
This does not have to mean a god you worship, anything you love more than the one true God can be a god in your life.

 2. You shall not make idols.
This means not to make any sort of image, idol or statue and then pray to it or worship it in any way.

 3. You shall not take the Lord's name in vain.
This means that you shouldn't use the name of God or Jesus as a curse word or to express anger or disgust.  You should only use the name of God or Jesus when you are actually referring to God Himself or Jesus Himself.

 4. Keep the Sabbath day Holy.
This simply means to take time on the Sabbath Day (Sunday in many cultures) to honor and worship God.  This commandment doesn't tell us exactly how we are supposed to do that, so just be sure that your worship is in line with what the Holy Bible teaches.

 5. Honor your father and your mother.
The word honor in this commandment does not mean doing everything your parents tell you for your entire life.  As long as our parent's instructions are not against anything the Bible teaches, we should obey our parents when we are not yet adults; but, once we are adults, the word honor actually means not to curse our parents, not to wish them harm, not to gossip about them and not to intentionally hurt them.

 6. You shall not murder.
Some people state this commandment as "You shall not kill,"  but the word used in the original language of the Bible actually means murder.  The word murder means to kill someone without just cause, out of hate or anger, or for your own convenience.

 7. You shall not commit adultery.
Very simply, this commandment means to stay faithful to your spouse.  Adultery doesn't necessarily have to be sexual, it can be anything that dishonors your marriage or breaks your wedding vows.  

 8. You shall not steal.
Plain and simple: don't take anything that does not belong to you and which you do not have the right to take.

 9. You shall not lie.
Sometimes stated as "You shall not bear false witness,"  which means the exact same thing--don't tell lies.

10. You shall not covet.
Covet means to deeply want something that belongs to someone else.  It is okay to want something exactly like the one someone else has, as long as you don't want to take what they have.  Wanting to find a spouse just like the spouse someone else has is fine, as long as you don't want their spouse.  It is okay to want a big house like someone else has, as long as you don't want to take away the house they have.  In other words, if you want to get something away from someone else so that you can have it, you are coveting.


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