What is the importance of the 10 Commandments in your life?

Answer 1

Few people really study the Ten Commandments to truly grasp what they are telling us. It boggles the mind to think that "if everyone in the world obeyed them"... there would be WORLD PEACE!

A type of "shock and awe" would result among the nations if, suddenly, no one in the world murdered anyone anymore; if no one would steal from one another, lie to one another, were faithful and true to their spouses and devoted to their families. If the whole world kept God's Sabbath to remember Him, or feared to utter His name in any manner other than with trembling reverence, and had Him and His name first and foremost in their hearts and minds at all times or at a moments notice.

Most people would agree that "World Peace" would be a "good way of living" on earth.

What they can't agree on, however, is just "how to achieve it."

And that way is "obeying God's laws" that define the way to Peace.

People can't imagine the "perfection"... the stark change... that would result from global obedience to the Ten Commandments -- or a world "without sin" -- because "...sin is the trangression of the law." (I John 3:4).

The Ten Commandments by themselves are God's "guideline" on how to live successfully, prosperously; lovingly toward one another; and at peace with one another.

But they aren't in and of themselves "a good way of living."

No law is any good, unless IT IS OBEYED!

What would make the Ten Commandments "a good way of living"... would be "if everyone would LIVE THEM."

"Hear now, O... [nations of the world]... the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. FOLLOW THEM SO THAT YOU MAY LIVE... KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS of the LORD your God..." (Deut.4:1-2 NIV).

What most people don't seem to realize, is that The Bible teaches that unless men repent of "not obeying the Ten Commandments" [sinning]... and faithfully let their Creator "teach them to him" [let Him teach them to Love and Care about others] -- that is the ONLY WAY men will go on Living... AT ALL. The "Good Way" of Living Eternally.

"...Teacher, what good thing must I do to get Eternal Life? ...There is only One who is Good. If you want to enter Life, OBEY the Commandments." (Matt.19:16-17 NIV)

Until God Himself changes man's nature [I Cor.15:51]... the world can only imagine, after the manner of its god's deceptive influence, living whatever ways it thinks is the "good way." Until then... the world will continue living the "bad way."

The bottom line is: the "Good Way of Living" is every man, woman and child on the face of the earth learning to be Loving, Caring Children of God who are concerned about the well-being of others.

The Ten Commandments teach that.

Unfortunately, where character development is concerned... "experience is the best teacher" -- and by the end of man's errant, disobedient rule on earth, he shall have learned that lesson. Because, apart from the "Good Way of Living" [obedience to the Ten Commandments] -- there is only "sin" and its wages; "death" -- which is not living at all.

Answer 2

A:

The Ten Commandments are greatly revered, but I do not think they play such an important part in the lives of even the most devout Christian, many of whom would even have trouble remembering what the Ten Commandments say. My assessment of the importance of the Ten Commandments is:

• The first commandment is to have "no other gods but me", but Christians follow this as a matter of course, there being only one God in the Christian faith.
• The second commandment is first of all not to make carved images or any likeness of anything, and secondly not to worship that image. In spite of this, Christians all over the world make carved images (statues) and likenesses (including portraits and photographs), so clearly this part of the commandment is less important to them than is the second part. Some believe that the practice of some Christians to pray before statues or pictures of saints further contravenes this commandment.
• The next commandment says to do no work on the Sabbath, nor to require or request others to do so, nor even allow an animal (or machine?) to do so, but is almost never honoured. Orthodox Jews, the only real group to attempt to honour this commandment, may decline even to press a 'walk' button so that they can cross the road at a set of traffic lights on a Sabbath. But some Orthodox Jews would nevertheless ask or allow others to press the button for them, in contravention of the commandment.
• The last five commandments do define some important moral ideals, although only in general terms. The fact that they cover so little of what moral issues need to be defined means that they are far from sufficient as a moral guide to today's generation.
• Those of us who are not Christians would, of course, not find anything of importance for our lives in the first five Commandments. We do good works and avoid doing wrong on the basis of conscience, rather than reviewing a set of commandments before undertaking any new activity for the day.