Saturday, March 7, 2009

The Seventh Commandment


The seventh commandment states:
You shall not commit adultery. (Ex. 20:14) I have been getting some of my Jewish references from the Jewish Agency for Israel. It is interesting to note that their site does not even list this commandment. I know that the Jews do not believe in adultery! It is clear in many of their writings. I mean they took 10 commandments and expanded them into 613 for crying out loud.

In the Catechism for Jewish Children, they do expand on this commandment a bit. When you read this, you notice that even though they only use the Torah, they have expanded this so that it includes your thoughts, manner of dress, etc.

When we think of this commandment, we think of sexual monogamy within the marriage. While that is the crux of this commandment, Christ elaborated on this to include our thoughts about others. (Matthew 5:27-28).

The way we present ourselves to others can cause them to think things about us that can be sinful. We seem to have lost our sense of modesty in our dress, mannerisms, and language. The younger people in our society seem to be affected more and more by this. Personally, I have to ask myself, "Who am I trying to impress with these clothes? Does my language reflect who I really am or am I trying to fit in?"

Sometimes we have to make hard decisions about ourselves and our children. To go through your own closet or your son/daughter's closet can be a difficult choice to make. I encourage you to sit down with your children and explain the reasoning behind the actions you decide to take and to encourage them to be who they really are, who you both know they are and not the stranger they are trying to become. Maybe you could remind them of actions they have taken that show their true colors so they can see that you do know them and that is the person you want to the world to see. I am using children as an example because they are the ones most affected by this as far as dress and false projection are concerned.

I know that there are adults out there making the wrong choices concerning their marriages. I have made my fair share of wrong choices in this area. It is hard to confess to God your transgressions. It is hard to go to your mate and tell them you are sorry for being such a jerk and that you really want this to work. I implore you to go to God first and ask for His direction. He can lead you down the right path to restoring your relationships.

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