“You shall not murder.” – Exodus 20:13
Q: What is the sixth commandment?
A: You shall not murder.
What does this mean?
Because we worship and love God, we shouldn’t hurt or harm other people, but instead we should help them like a friend would.
One day Jesus was talking with his closest friends. He wanted to teach them about God’s desires for how he wants us to live when we are his children. He spoke about many different things, like how to live with unbelievers, how to trust God when we are needy, how to treat our enemies, and many other amazing things.
He also spoke a word about murderers. He said something that was rather shocking at the time and maybe is still shocking today. He said that the essence of murder is not just physically killing someone but it is also even speaking a hurtful word to someone else. He broadened the definition of “murder” to include people who are hateful in their speech against another person.
Have you ever done this? Ever said something insulting to someone? Ever called your brother or sister something mean? Ever spoken disrespectful words to your parents?
Read Matthew 5:21–22:
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
- What do you think of these verses?
- If this is the definition of a murderer, then who are murderers?
- How can murderers be saved?
- Isn’t God’s grace amazing?
Prayer
Our Father, thank you that you can even save murderers like us. Apart from your grace and mercy we would be condemned to hell. Thank you for Jesus! Thank you for life in his name! Thank you for rescuing us from our sin! In Jesus’ name, Amen.