Usually disguised as harmless talk, it’s one of the most destructive forms of communication to relationships. It involves manipulating the perception of another person that is not there to defend themselves. Instead of solving anything, this passive-aggressive behavior creates severe and lasting problems.
In addition to poor communication being the top cause for family business failures, without effective communication skills to discuss the most difficult conversations, it’s impossible to address the other causes for failure as well.
People will not consistently contribute their hearts, minds, spirits, etc. until they know your heart and that they can trust that you care about them.
If we desire to seek eternal success, we must strive to live the values as described in the Bible, the church and the examples of the Saints. Our values help steer us in the right direction and inform the tough decisions in our life for ourselves, our family, and our business.
When you’re building anything, we know we want to build a solid foundation to start. If we are going to build our family, our business and our life on something, we want to be certain that it is solid. Everyone faces difficulties and challenges in their life, so how are we going to respond when we face these difficulties? What path are we going to take?
The Tenth Commandment addresses the deliberate and conscious intentions and thoughts inside of us – our desires, thoughts, and covetousness. It pertains to the inner attitudes of greed and envy that lead us to act unjustly toward the goods and property of our neighbor. It goes beyond the exterior actions to purify even the intentions of the heart.
In the review of the Sixth Commandment, we covered how this commandment is focused on the physical acts and forbids the impure actions, the Ninth Commandment addresses the deliberate and conscious intentions and thoughts inside of us. The Ninth Commandment is focused on our heart and our mind – the impure desires, thoughts, and covetousness inside each of us.
The Eighth Commandment is about telling the truth and living in truth. According to the Catechism, “The disciple of Christ consents to “live in the truth,” that is, in the simplicity of a life in conformity with the Lord’s example, abiding in his truth. “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth.”
(CCC no. 2470)
You shall not steal. – Exodus 20:15 NRSVCE
The Seventh Commandment seems pretty straightforward that you shouldn’t steal from another however the Catechism provides even deeper context as to how this applies. It reveals that all of creation belongs to God and we are simply stewards or caretakers of what is created.
The Catechism teaches that Christ’s grace in the Sacrament of Marriage protects the essential purposes of marriage: the good of the couple and the generation and education of children. Anything that is contrary to these primary purposes of marriage would likely be contrary to this Commandment.