Daily Devotional Wednesday 29th May 2024
by William Moody
Exodus 20:1–16
The Ten Commandments
20:1 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 slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before1 me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or 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 or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands2 of those who love me and keep my commandments.
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.
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 a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.3
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Footnotes
[1] 20:3
Or besides
[2] 20:6Or to the thousandth generation
[3] 20:13The Hebrew word also covers causing human death through carelessness or negligence (ESV)
The ninth commandment (v16) requires honesty and integrity in our speech. We’re not to slander and to seek to damage people’s reputation with our words. The sum of the commandments is about loving people and we love by speaking kindly about people when they are not present.
The Bible teaches much about the use of our tongues. We know should not speak evil about people but when it comes to carrying this out we find that our tongues are as untameable as a wild animal (see James 3 v7-12).
Flee to Christ seeking for His grace to control your tongue and encourage those close to you to help you from speaking about people without kindness. There is a real danger when we do not like people or they annoy us, to exaggerate things or present the truth with a suitable spin so as to make people appear in not as good a light.
When speaking to or about others we should ask before we speak: – 1. Is it true? 2. Is it kind? 3. Is it helpful?
The theory is simple the practice needs God’s amazing grace.
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