Rules To Live By
Written by Michelle Smythers
Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statues, and his judgements, and his commandments, alway. Deuteronomy 11:1
If you love me, keep my commandments. John 14:14
Have you ever thought about all the rules we are expected to live by? If you go to church, you learn about the Ten Commandments that God gave Moses. He didn't give those and tell Moses to change them if he thought the people couldn't live by them. That is what God required of His people. But even in the New Testament, Jesus made it even easier to understand by simply saying, "If you love me, keep my commandments." What do we get out of obeying the commandments? Should we even expect anything for simply doing what God asks? We certainly don't deserve anything for doing what God requires but our God is a loving and merciful God. Even though we should just do what God expects of us with no reward, God still shows us favor and gives us blessings for doing the right thing. Isn't that amazing?
The Ten Commandments seem easy to follow but there are days that even the strongest Christian can feel like a failure. Take for instance, Thou shalt not lie. Everyone faces a time when you wrestle with "It's not really a lie, it's just not the whole truth" but then the Holy Spirit nudges you and makes you really think about what you've just said. And honestly sometimes we need to realize a lie is a lie, big or little. What about Honor your Father and Mother? Have you ever flat out disobeyed or disrespected your parents? Maybe you just ignored them. Even if it's only because you were having a bad day, it's still not keeping God's commandment. And what about Thou Shalt not Covet? That one can really get us in trouble. Why does she always get the newest phone? Why does he have to have a new car? Why is there house so much nicer and bigger than mine?
With each commandment, we have a choice to make. You either obey them or you don't. There's no middle ground. Even though some may say the commandments are from the Old Testament and don't apply today, I don't agree with that. Why don't you take some time today and get reacquainted with the Ten Commandments? You may have learned them as a child and just pushed them aside. But they should still be what we live by today.
Last Updated: May 25, 2026
