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.
One of the first stories in the Bible describes Cain killing his brother Abel (Genesis 4:8). Since the beginning of time, people have understood that intentionally taking, or being an accomplice to taking, an innocent life is wrong however the Fifth Commandment goes well beyond this surface level interpretation.
The Fourth Commandment is the first commandment of the last seven that focus on our responsibilities toward ourselves and others. This Commandment is about respect and honor toward our parents, as well as those in authority (teachers, employers, governors, elders, coaches, etc.)
The Third Commandment calls us to keep holy the Sabbath day. For Christians, the observance of the Sabbath is Sunday, the actual day of Christ’s Resurrection that brought about the new creation by Christ and recalls the creation of the world in Genesis.
When God handed down these commandments, He made this the second commandment… not the tenth. That suggests that this is pretty important.
When you were young you may have heard about, and maybe even studied, the Ten Commandments. You may have heard the stories from the Bible about Moses bringing down the stone tablets from Mount Sinai. As an adult, you may think they’re pretty basic and easy to follow. Maybe you consider them more as suggestions or think they’re not really applicable in today’s world. Nothing could be further from the truth!