The 10 Commandments for Young People (And Older Ones, too)

The 10 Commandments for Young People (And Older Ones, too)

The 10 points below are used with permission from Kenny Moorer, who presented this lesson at Kleinwood church of Christ on Sunday, April 10, 2016. The commentary following each point is partly mine and partly Kenny’s, again used with his permission.

1.        Obey your parents. Ephesians 6:1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

We’ve all heard this one and we were probably all expecting this one to be the first point. But let’s think about it further for a minute. Why should you obey your parents, besides the fact that it is right? Obey your parents because they love you. They love you like no one else ever will. Rather than causing trouble, gripping and complaining about everything, why not make it easier for them instead of harder? You will learn when you are a parent that being a parent is one of the hardest jobs in the world. So make their job easier for them, and let them know you love them for all they have done for you.

2.        Make up your mind to do right. Daniel 1:8 But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.

Daniel made up his mind that he wouldn’t defile himself, when he was taken captive. Making up your mind to do the right thing is not a one time thing. It is a continual process. Every day, you need to wake up and decide, make up your mind that you are going to do the right thing. Notice something else. Daniel was going to go against what the king wanted. He didn’t do it by getting “in your face” with the king and his people. He went to the commander of the officials to let him know that he was going to do something other than what he was supposed to do. This let the commander know that Daniel was still trying to be respectful but that he had to do what he thought was the right thing to do. Remember that sometimes the approach you use can make all the difference in the world.

3.        Walk circumspectly. Ephesians 5:15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise. 

The word circumspectly means to look around. Be careful how you walk, looking around to see what is going on around you. Don’t let yourself be led into something immoral because you weren’t paying attention to what was going on.

4.        Don’t rationalize sexual sin. Ezekiel 23:21 Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom because of the breasts of your youth.

The entire chapter of Ezekiel 23 is about Israel and how they have been unfaithful to God. Lewdness, nakedness and harlotry were terms that Ezekiel used to show the Israelites how they had hurt God by being unfaithful to him. But this is a good example of how we should avoid the lewdness, nakedness and harlotry. Don’t rationalize these sins. You know what lewdness is, you know what nakedness is. Don’t play around, trying to see how close you can get to sin. Get as far away from it as you can. If there was poison in one brownie of the batch, would you be willing to try any of the brownies or would you get as far away from those brownies as you could? This isn’t hard to understand. Don’t rationalize it. Be honest with yourself.

5.        Develop a good reputation. Acts 16:2 And he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium.

Timothy was well spoken of by the brethren in Lystra and Iconium. This made him the perfect young man for Paul to take with him on his journeys. If someone were to go to your congregation or to your family and friends and ask about you, what kind of things would they tell about you? Do you have a good reputation? Or are you known for not doing the right thing, for not being serious about serious things, for being hurtful to others? What kind of reputation do you want?

6.        Do some things that you don’t want to do. Ecclesiastes 7:2 It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart.

We all have to do things we don’t want to do. Sometimes that is a lousy thing. But sometimes it can be good to do things you don’t want. Major life lessons can be learned from doing things you don’t want to do. And you might learn that you really enjoy doing the things you thought you didn’t want to do.

 
7.        Seek godly counsel. 1 Kings 12:13 The king answered the people harshly, for he forsook the advice of the elders which they had given him.

Rehoboam was a new king. He asked the elders who had advised his father how he should respond to requests from the people for easier work. He also asked his friends, those who were the same age as he. Rehoboam listened to his friends, people who were no more knowledgeable or wise than he was himself. His friends told him to increase the amount of work expected by the king. The people rebelled and deserted Rehoboam. If he had listened to the wise counsel of the elders, he would have fared much better.

8.        Do “fitting” things. Ephesians 5:3-4 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

Some things fit the life of a Christian, some things don’t fit. Is your life a puzzle of pieces that fit perfectly together or are there things that just don’t fit?

9.        Realize the brevity of life. James 4:14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

None of us know how long we will have here on this earth. We all like to think we will live to 80 or 90, grow old and be able to do everything we ever wanted to do. We all know, though, that we have no guarantee of tomorrow. We all know someone who has died too early, whose life was cut short because they made a bad choice or because someone else made a bad choice. We have all heard of babies that never even make it to birth or to their first birthday. It is a depressing thought but it doesn’t have to be totally depressing. Realizing the brevity of life will better help us to redeem the time, Ephesians 5:16. Make the most of your time. Use every day to do something to help you grow as a Christian, something to help someone else. Spend time in God’s word, grow your soul, not just your body. Make the most of your time!

10.    Develop a “cuttable” heart. Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”  

On the day of Pentecost, the people who heard Peter speak were “pierced to the heart.” If their hearts were hardened, then Peter’s sermon would have had no effect. Their hearts were pierced because they hadn’t allowed themselves to become so conditioned to sin that they couldn’t be touched. Is your heart cuttable? You can develop that kind of heart. That is what God wants of all of us. He wants us to care enough to be touched by rebukes from our brethren. He wants us to be concerned when we have hurt someone. Don’t let your heart be so calloused that you can’t be touched, affected by the pain of others.

Kenny’s final point was for parents. The greatest gift you can give your child is to have a genuine faith of your own. Think about this – when your kids are your age, would you be happy if they had the same faith you have now? Would you be happy with that or do you want more for them? If your faith isn’t a genuine faith, a strong faith, the kind of faith you would want your children to have, you need to work on that. Children learn by what we tell them, but they learn so much more from what they see in us. Your children know if you are sincere in your faith. And if you aren’t sincere, how can you expect them to have a sincere, genuine faith?

Now these 10 Commandments are for young people, but I have to tell you, they were all good reminders for me as well. I hope they will be good reminders for you as well.