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The Practical Side of God’s Top Ten, Part 1
At one time or another, everyone (even if we’re Christian) wanders through life searching for something we can’t quite put our finger on. We may feel lost or empty. We may seek happiness or joy in what the world has to offer. If we only had more money, a bigger house, a better car, more popular stuff, people admired us, or we were beautiful, we could finally live the good life. But many people have all those things and still feel unhappy, unloved, and have trouble understanding the point of it all.
Believe it or not, that’s where God’s law comes in. God is not just a “guy” who likes to tell everyone what to do. In the same way parents protect their children with rules and discipline, God’s law shows His love for us. He’s an almighty God who created us, loves us, and wants to protect us from the world and our sinful selves.
Today, people look at the Ten Commandments as a list of impossible laws that are no longer relevant. Make no mistake, they are laws, but when we look at them from a different perspective, we see that they are relevant and have a practical, everyday purpose. If we do our best to follow them, we make less of a mess of our lives. If we look at them from a different perspective, and teach the new perspective to our children, they will see the practical side of God’s law and how following it makes life better.
Part one of this article focuses on the first three commandments. God has given us a direct clue in the first three commandments about how to have a strong relationship with Him. All relationships take effort. Our relationship with God is no different. It’s not in keeping them perfectly that we are rewarded with a stronger relationship, but in knowing and trying to keep that relationship close and strong.
Our Relationship With God Through the 10 Commandments
Focus on God. If we don’t focus on God, on whom do we focus? There are only two other options: ourselves or somebody else (the world). How did it work for Adam and Eve? She followed her own desires, and Adam followed her. Thinking they knew better than God led to the world needing a Savior. How did it work for the Israelites when they lived with the Canaanites? Slowly, but surely, they moved further and further away from God until they were exiled. What a mess!
When we focus on God and trust Him, we have a sure, steady, and consistent set of values to live by. His plan is always better than ours. When we learn to trust Him more than we trust ourselves, we have less anxiety and more peace and contentment about our present and future.
Respect God’s name. When we disrespect God’s name, we disrespect God. If you were to lie about your mom, do something evil and blame it on her, or use her name in a vulgar way, it would hurt everyone connected to her. How her name is used reflects how people think, feel, and even treat her. We don’t want people to think she is less than who she is. We don’t want people to think we don’t respect her. She is her name.
God is also His name. Using His name carelessly erodes our faith and trust in Him. If His followers don’t respect Him, He must not be worthy of anyone’s faith and trust. When we respect God’s name, we respect God. When we do not respect His name, we are not respecting Him. God is there for us no matter how we treat Him, and He deserves our respect. When we use His name as someone we love and honor, we grow stronger faith, and become more content.
Take a day to rest and focus on God. All relationships take work. The relationships we care about most are the ones to which we give our time and energy. When we ignore a relationship, it falls apart. The less time we spend with God, talking to Him, reading or listening to His word, and/or worshiping Him, the further away from Him we will fall. If God seems far away, who moved?
When we worship, study God’s word, and talk to Him, thanking and praising Him for all He’s done and does for us every day, our lives change in beautiful ways. Our outlook on life and the world changes. Our faith grows, and our stress lessens. His word begins to live in our hearts, and we become more positive. We cannot help but live with more contentment and joy, knowing He is with us always.
God watched as the Israelites wandered through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land, making a mess of everything. It’s no coincidence that His plan for them, and us, included these laws. Without them, we would surely have lost our way, as many do today.
These first three commandments are very important, and God put them first for a reason. The next seven, which focus on our relationship with our fellow humans, flow from them. How can we be good and decent neighbors if all good comes from a God we choose not to love, honor, and respect? Though nobody can keep them perfectly, when we try, we can’t help but be drawn closer to God, loving, respecting, and honoring Him in the way He asks us to. The blessings we receive from them radiate out from God to our hearts, our lives, and our neighbors. Life gets better.
Next month… part two of this topic.
Laura Langhoff Arndt is an author and teacher of the faith with an MA in Classroom Instruction, and Director of Christian Education certification in the LCMS. She is the founder of the blog, Carpenter’s Ministry Toolbox.
Pray FOR Your Kids
There are two ways to pray for your kids: 1) praying with regard to them (praying for your parenting), and 2) praying for them. Last month, we focused on praying with regard to your kids. You can find that article here. This month, we’ll focus on what it means to pray for your kids. Praying for your kids is to pray about what they need, what they may be going through, and who God wants them to be.
Let’s be honest, most TV shows turn children being disrespectful, rude, and sarcastic toward adults into comedy, and it’s rare for the parents in those situations to actually parent, teaching their kids not to be rude and disrespectful, when kids misbehave. More often than not, we see parents not being firm in the expectation of their kids having appropriate behavior. We also see that kids rule the roost. What’s considered popular parenting, even among many Christian parents, is being best friends with their kids. Also, if other kids have it, we think our kids need it too. Do kids truly need to have and do everything their friends have or do? Do kids truly need the whole internet at their fingertips through smartphones, the minute they can push buttons just because their friends do? Even the best-intentioned parents can find themselves in trouble when they fall into praying more for what’s important to their children than what’s important for their children.
When kids come into the world, they have two parents, a mother and a father. They will have many friends, but parents have a particular love and responsibility for their kids. We, and perhaps grandparents, are the only ones who will set aside what kids want for what they need. Where their faith and eternal life are concerned, parents are the greatest influence in a child’s life.
When you think about what you truly want for your kids, is it about their current life, which will end, or their eternal life, which will not end. Perhaps our list should contain at least some of the following:
- Strong faith in a world that constantly tells them to ignore it.
- Encouragement to live in a way that pleases God and grows their faith.
- Safety in a world filled with evil and the constant effort on the devil’s part to pull them away from God.
- Wisdom to discern God’s will for their life.
- The courage to stand for God and do what is right by His word.
- Strength of character that comes from strong faith.
- The wisdom, desire, and courage to make God-pleasing life choices.
Those six things are the meat and potatoes of praying for your children at any age. If they have those things, everything else will fall in line, and they are steps ahead in weathering life’s storms, but there is more. At some point, our kids struggle with bad grades, feelings of worthlessness, bullies, mean or disloyal friends, having a negative self-image, courage, having a positive attitude, dealing with alcohol and/or drugs, liking themselves, social media, anxiety, and many more. Dealing with problems and the consequences of their choices are important life lessons. We should not take those lessons away, but we can give them the greatest tool in the toolbox: teach them that God’s picture of their life is bigger than the one they see, how to deal wisely with life’s problems as they come, how to walk through the consequences of bad choices, and how to pray for themselves.
Our children go through many things as they grow, but they do not walk alone. Our prayers will change as they meet struggle head-on, but they will always need the meat and potatoes of your prayers for them.
Pray for your kids; pray for what they truly need to live a life of faith, peace, and joy.
From Teach Me to Pray: A Journey to More Personal Prayer, by Laura Langhoff Arndt. Used with permission.
Encouraging Faith: CAMP CHANGES LIVES!
Have your kids or your family ever experienced a Lutheran camp? Many Lutheran camps have both youth and family camp opportunities.
Lutheran camps offer a wide variety of experiences where kids will make memories trying all kinds of activities: Bible study, prayer time, evening fireside devotions, canoeing and/or kayaking, rock wall climbing, hiking, pontoon boat rides, swimming, archery, sand volleyball, ropes courses, zip lines, learning to make a campfire and cooking on it, and making crafts. And that's just some of them! Some camps also have unique activities such as horseback riding, mountain biking, and sailing. As your child participates in these activities, they also make great friends and memories, and have real encounters with God as they laugh and are challenged to try new things… all without their phones! Every child should have the opportunity to bond with campmates as they trudge through the rain or mud on some days or tip over in their kayak on others. Outdoor ministry builds confidence and encourages faith growth as kids experience God’s creation up close and personal. CAMP CHANGES LIVES!
Nobody falls through the cracks at a Lutheran camp! If you discover that the camp near you is more expensive than you can afford, please visit its website or contact the camp. They often have camperships (scholarships) available. Also, talk to your pastor. Every kid should experience camp. If you have older children or grandchildren, they can be junior counselors, counselors, or work on staff. That is a life-changing experience, too!
NLOMA (National Lutheran Outdoor Ministry Association) Camps are as unique as the land on which we live. Find one near you here: NLOMA
The camp photos above are from a variety of camps around the country.
In Every Issue
Family Ministry Idea: Summer Family Book Club
Elementary teachers are always trying to get kids to read more at home. Why not have a summer family book club? You can read some fun books like The Chronicles of Narnia together, or if you have older kids, you can try some of Lewis's other books: The Screwtape Letters or The Great Divorce are good options. You can also let them choose a book they are interested in from Concordia Publishing House. There's nothing as fun as sitting on the porch or around the fire pit, talking to your kids about Jesus and faith.
Family Prayer
Heavenly Father,
Only you truly know our family and the hearts of each one of us. As summer approaches, we ask that we have a good end of the school year and that we bring you along on all of our summer adventures. We ask that you heal our broken bodies, minds, and souls as we take time this summer to slow down and learn to grow toward your will. Help and encourage us to make wise choices and do our best to live according to your holy will. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.