A lot of people turn away from Christianity because of the Ten Commandments. I find it very sad that people are against my faith because of one simple little thing that is often misunderstood. Yes, there are rules and regulations as with everything else in life. When does anything ever not have rules? A lot of people argue that God is harsh to have any kind of requirements but so many only see the Ten Commandments and run. You should look a bit closer before turning yourself off just because there are a few rules. My faith is not all about what you should or shouldn’t do. It’s also about unconditional love and what can make us truly happy.

    Look at it this way. There are only two sets of commandments that I know of. The first is the Ten Commandments.

Exodus 20:1-17 says:

“1Then God instructed the people as follows:

2"I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.

3"Do not worship any other gods besides me.

4"Do not make idols of any kind, whether in the shape of birds or animals or fish. 5You must never worship or bow down to them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not share your affection with any other god! I do not leave unpunished the sins of those who hate me, but I punish the children for the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generations. 6But I lavish my love on those who love me and obey my commands, even for a thousand generations.

7"Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.

8"Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, 10but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your household may do any kind of work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 11For in six days the LORD made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; then he rested on the seventh day. That is why the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

12"Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the LORD your God will give you.

13"Do not murder.

14"Do not commit adultery.

15"Do not steal.

16"Do not testify falsely against your neighbor.

17"Do not covet your neighbor's house. Do not covet your neighbor's wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else your neighbor owns.”

Then there’s mention of the two greatest commandments.

Matthew 22:36-40 says:

“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?" Jesus replied, “`You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Now, let’s examine these commandments. I’ll start with the first commandment given in Matthew.

“…Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind…”

Let’s compare this to the commandments given in Exodus. Read verses 3-11 and look at them closely. These verses or commandments are similar to the commandment given in Matthew. If you follow what Jesus said in Matthew then you are automatically following the other commandments in Exodus because if you love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind, then you will not have any other Gods before him, or make idols to worship, neither will you take his name in vain and you will keep the Sabbath day holy. This means that we can narrow down these rules to one simple rule. Matthew 22:36-37

Ok, now let’s move to the second commandment given in Matthew.

“…Love your neighbor as yourself…”

First, I’ll clarify that the term neighbor does not mean just the person you live close to. We are all cohabitants of this Earth, so that makes us all neighbors of each other. This term refers to every person on this planet. Every person you know and meet, even those you are related to. People you like and people you dislike. Every color, every race, both sexes, all ages, etc.

Again, let’s compare this to the remaining commandments in Exodus. Read and study verses 12-17. These commandments are also similar to the one in Matthew. If you love your neighbor as much as you love yourself, then you are going to honor your father and mother, you won’t commit murder or adultery, you won’t steal or say false things about someone, and you won’t covet someone else’s possessions. This means we can also narrow these commandments down to one simple rule. Matthew 22:39-40

Now we have realized that there are only two commandments to follow. There is no worry about the Ten Commandments now because when you follow the two in Matthew, then you are already following the ten mentioned in Exodus. It’s simpler than you thought isn’t it? Christianity doesn’t look so hard now that you see there are really just two rules to follow. The rest is all just inspiration to help us grow spiritually. It’s all fun once you get past the fear of rules. Christianity was never meant to be constricting. The Bible is not supposed to be just a book of rules. It’s anything but that actually.

Please feel free to comment on this topic.

-Elizabeth

NOTE: ALL SCRIPTURE TAKEN FROM THE "NEW LIVING TRANSLATION".