Considering Your Life According to the Ten Commandments

What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.

• Who do I love, trust, and fear most in my life? From whom do I expect my comfort, good, and delight?
• Do I look to God my heavenly Father for all love, good, and joy? Or is everything measured by what pleases me?
• In all things am I self-centered and selfish?

• Do I see my worry and fretting as a sin against trusting in God?
• Do I complain about the troubles, people, work, and suffering God lays on me?
• Do I love the things God gives me more than I love Him? And do I cling to the things He takes away, even though He gives Himself to me?

What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise and give thanks.

• Do I curse? Have I cursed? (Cursing means to speak evil against someone, especially invoking the powers of good and evil, for instance, praying that God would damn someone)
• Do I use God’s name cheaply for oaths that are frivolous or false? (Do I ask him to vouch for my lies? Do I call on His name without realizing it, or without believing He hears me?)

• Do I stand up and swear by God’s name when it is for the truth of the Gospel or for the benefit of my neighbor in need?
• Do I pray in times of trouble? Am I bored and indifferent in prayer?
• Is it so that I cannot speak about God because I am bored with God’s Word, and do not study the Catechism, Christian doctrine, and God’s Word?
• Is my heart and life in the praise of God in worship? Am I mouthing the words of the service while my heart is far away?
• Is my life, which is marked with the name of God in Baptism, characterized by thanksgiving and praise?

What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.

• Do I strive to make the day of rest holy? Do I care about holy living?
• Do use the Word of God and prayer to make my time, work, study, and life holy day by day?
• Am I bored with the Word of God? Have I any fear over this neglect?

• Do I honor the Word of God highly by studying it gladly, learning it by heart, and living it? Do I despise the word of God by neglect, paying no attention to it when it is read or preached?
• Do I love my fellow Christians by being present with them in worship to sustain them? Am I quick to make excuses for neglecting worship because of what someone else has said or done, or to do other things I like more?
• Do I spend my time complaining about the worship, the pastor, or other people at church? Do I learn the Word gladly so that I may teach others?

What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.

• Has the fear and love of God shaped my honor and obedience to parents and others in authority?
• Have I trusted God to bless me and make my life good when I submit to the authority of parents and those over me, or have I been angry with them, rebelling, fighting against them because I was afraid I would not get what I thought I had a right to get?

• Have I been insolent, sullen, and disrespectful to my parents, teachers, employers, or other authorities over me?
• Have I been on good behavior when they are present and mocking them when they are absent?
• Have I given honor and respect to the pastoral office?
• Have I helped those who carry responsibilities in governing our nation and communities? Do I pray for parents, leaders of the nations, those who make, administer, and judge our laws, schools, and the church?
• Do I grumble about the work I am given?
• Have I helped make it easier for those in authority over me to serve in their God-given vocation?

What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need.

• Have I treated my neighbor’s body and life as God’s gifts to him/her?
• Have I injured my neighbor with violent actions, hitting or beating him, speaking debasing and insulting words, using foul or dirty words to describe the neighbor, or murdered him in my heart with thoughts of anger, contempt, and hatred?

• Have I injured my neighbor by neglecting to feed or clothe him in his need, or withholding compassion and comfort from him?
• Have I avoided giving help to my neighbor because I didn’t want to get involved with his difficulty?
• Do I abuse my own body by neglecting my health, by worrying, through excess use of food, drink, tobacco, or the use of drugs?

What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.

• Have I misused my ears to hear shameful stories, or my eyes to incite cravings towards the body of a person who is not my spouse, or my mouth to speak such words and stories?
• Have I indulged my eyes with longing for my sexual satisfaction from a man or woman who is not my spouse?
• Have I dishonored marriage by ridiculing it, through divorce, or by neglecting to encourage others to be faithful to their spouses in the fear of God?
• Have I had intercourse or engaged in sexual activity with a man or woman who is not my spouse?

• Have I dishonored my spouse by neglecting to care for the needs the body, mind, and feelings of the person God has given to me in holy matrimony?
• Have I withdrawn faithfulness from my spouse?
• Have I failed to trust that God will bless us in our marriage, even in times of trouble?
• Have I neglected to pray for my spouse, to worship together, and to live in the fear and love of God in times of sexual temptation?
• Have I practiced homosexuality in thought, word, or deed?
• Have I given support to homosexual activity in others by word or deed?

What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do take our neighbor’s money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.

• Have I been lazy at work, doing poor work in school or at my job, or working hard only when the boss or teacher is around?
• Have I been stingy, paying my workers less than they deserve for the work I have asked them to do, and less than they need to care for themselves and their families?
• Have I been greedy, demanding the best pay for poor work?
• Have I worked only for myself, and not for the glory of Christ and the good of my neighbor?

• Have I cared for and helped to improve the property in the neighborhood, community, school, or church?
• Have I stolen from my workplace, school, or the church, or stood silently by while others took what was not theirs? Have I stolen information from another’s work?
• Have I wasted time, food, or money, or caused others to have to waste their time, food, or money through my negligence?
• Have I been stingy in giving the Lord a generous portion as a thank-offering from the gifts He has given to me?
• Have I failed to help my neighbor in a time of need?

What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, think well of him and explain everything in the kindest way.

• Have I told the truth in court, before the authorities, at school, or before my parents when I knew the truth? Have I been afraid to testify when I knew the truth and it was necessary to speak against a wrong-doer or to speak on behalf of a victime?
• Have I gossiped? Have I taken pleasure in telling about the faults or mistakes of others, and excused myself by saying “I’m just telling the truth”?
• Have I gone to others in private to make peace when I wronged them or they me, or to correct them in love if I knew their wrong?

• Have I flattered others, or put on a false front to make them think differently of me than what is true?
• Have I slanted my stories to make myself look better, or deceived others by not giving them the whole story?
• Have I found ways gladly and willingly to explain, in the best possible way, the words and actions of others that hurt me?
• Have I defended my neighbor when things being said made others think poorly of him or her?
• Have I learned to bear with the weaknesses and faults of others, covering their shame?

What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not scheme to get our neighbor’s inheritance or house, or get it in a way which only appears right, but help and be of service to him in keeping it.

• Have I longed for the honor, wealth, happiness, or the easy life that others seemed to enjoy? Is my heart and life full of cravings for these things?
• Have I been stingy and self-indulgent with my money, caring only for myself and trying to keep up with what others have?

• Do I have to keep wising for or dreaming about the things I don’t have before I am motivated to work with a diligent and glad heart?
• Have I lived in grudging discontent with the things God has given me in this life? Am I restless about the things I do not have? Do I neglect the things I have been given? Have I been thankless or failed to be generous with the gifts God has given me?
• Have I tried, by various legal means, to take someone else’s property and make it mine, saying they don’t really deserve it and I do?

What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not entice or force away our neighbor’s wife, workers, or animals, but urge them to stay and do their duty.

• Have I wanted my neighbor’s spouse, his workers, his cattle, or any of his property to be mine?
• Have I rejoiced with my neighbor when God has richly blessed him, or do I grumble in my heart, wondering why God has not blessed me in the same way?
• Have I tried to win the affections and loyalties of my neighbor’s spouse or children or friends away frim him to me? Am I jealous and try to get these people to love me instead of him?

• Do I encourage other people to build their relationships in their vocations? Do I try to hold marriages, friendships, and workplaces together? Or do I gossip and complain and urge them to look elsewhere, breaking apart marriages, families, friendships, workplaces, and communities?
• Have I fostered discontent with the congregation, its pastor or leaders, and failed to urge my brothers and sisters in Christ to stay and do their duty in worship, praying, giving, and serving?

He says, “I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (Ex. 20: 5–6)

What does this mean? God threatens to punish all who break these commandments. Therefore, we should fear His wrath and not do anything against them. But He promises grace and every blessing to all who keep these commandments. Therefore, we should also love and trust in Him and gladly do what He commands.

• God demands our hearts and minds, not merely outward actions. Therefore, examine the heart as well as the life, connecting the fear and love of God with each commandment. Let the broken heart fear Him. God loves and does not despise the sacrifices of God are a broken heart. Rather, he joins the broken heart to his mercy for forgiveness and healing, for peace and purity.