Exodus 20:16 - You shall not give false testimony

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Exodus 20:16

Commentary

Lying distorts reality. We give a false testimony, or tell a lie about something, to change someone's perception. It may be a person's opinion of us, our abilities or strength. It may be to change their perception of another person. Either way, we are trying to be "God" in the situation. We are actually taking control over another person's mind and emotions when we tell lies. Lying is an offense to God because he has commanded that we have no other gods before him-including us! If we believe and trust God to love and care for us in all things, we never have to lie to try and manipulate the circumstances. We only lie because we do not believe God is big enough to handle a given situation, so we take control of people and things with our words. We act like we are God in the situation. Trust that God is 'large and in charge' of everything in your life. Allow him to be your defender and you will no longer need to lie.

Today's Commentary by:
Caesar Kalinowski, Pastor, Soma Communities

Exodus 20:15 - You shall not steal

You shall not steal.

Thou shalt not steal.

You shall not steal.

Exodus 20:15

Commentary

When someone steals something, in essence they are being their own provider. They are thinking, "God has not taken good enough care of me, so I will have to supply this for myself..." We are not keeping God first in our life when we steal. Stealing betrays the fact that we think we can provide for ourselves in ways that are better and richer than God! We put our provision for self above his-in essence making our self into a god over our lives. Also, when we want something that God has not yet chosen to provide in our life, and we want it bad enough to steal for it, we have made that thing into an idol. "I must have it!" We have effectively placed that "god", and our own desires, before God and his perfect will and provision in our life. So we see that stealing something is not just a matter of it being wrong to take something that is not ours, but it's an offense to our good and generous God.

Today's Commentary by:
Caesar Kalinowski, Pastor, Soma Communities