Peasant commandments. Gospel Beatitudes
The commandments of God are an external law given by God in addition to a person’s weakened (due to a sinful life) internal guideline - conscience.
“Jesus said...: whoever loves Me will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words (John 14:23-24).
God gave the Ten Old Testament Commandments (Decalogue) on Mount Sinai through Moses to the Jewish people when he was returning from Egypt to the land of Canaan, on two stone tablets (or tablets). The first four commandments contain the duties of love for God, the last six contain the duties of love for one's neighbor (i.e., all people).
Ten Commandments of the Old Testament
(Exodus 20:2-17, Deuteronomy 5:6-21)
1. I am the Lord your God, and there are no other gods besides Me.
2. Do not make for yourself an idol or any image; do not worship them or serve them.
3. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
4. Work six days and do all your work, and the seventh - Saturday - is a day of rest, which you dedicate to the Lord your God.
5. Honor your father and mother, that you may be blessed on earth and live long.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Don't steal
9. Do not bear false witness.
10. Don't covet anything that belongs to others.
The Beatitudes are a declaration of Christian moral values. It contains everything necessary for a person to enter the true fullness of life. All the Beatitudes speak of the rewards that those who are faithful to Christ will receive in the Kingdom of the next age: those who mourn will be comforted, those who hunger for righteousness will be satisfied, the meek will inherit the earth, pure in heart will see God. But already now, by fulfilling the commandments of Christ, a person receives consolation and joy on the eve of the fullness of existence - the advent of the Kingdom of God.
Beatitudes Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5, verses 2-12):
And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
3. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
5. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
9. Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me.
Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven (...).
The content of all the commandments of both the Old and New Testaments can be summarized in two commandments of love given by Christ: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. The second is like it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Matthew 12:30-31). And the Lord also gave us faithful guidance on what to do: “Whatever you want people to do to you, do so to them, for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12).
***“God in His Commandments commands us to do something and not do something else, not because He “just wants to.” Everything that God commanded to do is useful to us, and what He forbade is harmful.
Even an ordinary person who loves his child teaches him: “drink carrot juice - it’s healthy, don’t eat a lot of sweets - it’s harmful.” But the child doesn’t like carrot juice, and he doesn’t understand why eating a lot of candy is harmful: after all, candy is sweet, but carrot juice is not. That's why he resists his father's word, pushes away the glass of juice and throws a tantrum, demanding more sweets.
Likewise, we, adult “children,” strive more for what gives us pleasure and reject what does not suit our whims. And by rejecting the Word of the Heavenly Father, we commit sin."
Archpriest Alexander Torik,"Churching".
***
Why do 80% of baptized people answer the question about what commandments there are, without saying a word: “Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal”? Why are they called the sixth and eighth commandments of the Old Testament? Not the first, not the third, not the tenth?.. I thought about this for a long time and came to an interesting conclusion: out of all the commandments, a person chooses those for which he does not have to do anything to fulfill. “I didn’t kill, I didn’t steal - I’m a great guy, and leave me alone!” Do you know the seventh commandment, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” why they skip it? Yes, a very “inconvenient” commandment in our dissolute times. So man deceives himself, choosing from the law of God only what is convenient for him, and consciously or unconsciously trampling on what prevents him from living in his own way. Lawyers say that ignorance of the law does not excuse one from responsibility. This is also true in relation to spiritual life, and precisely because knowledge (or ignorance) of the law depends entirely on us, on our good or bad will. ...
By breaking the commandments, a person does not even insult God. God is holy and cannot be mocked. But a person cripples his own life and the lives of his loved ones, because the commandments are not some kind of shackles: life is already difficult, and then some other commandments must be kept! No, it's not like that. The commandments of God are precisely the conditions for a normal, fulfilling, healthy and joyful life for every person. And if a person violates these commandments, he harms, first of all, himself and his loved ones.
priest Dimitry Shishkin
***
From the Sermon on the Mount, and above all from the Beatitudes, it follows that a person must cleanse himself of passions, cleanse his heart of all thoughts that dwell in it, and acquire humility of spirit in order to become worthy of seeing God. The word of Christ is clear:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God...
(Matt. 5:3-8).
The Beatitudes show the spiritual path of man, the path of deification, the path that leads to healing. Consciousness of one’s spiritual poverty, that is, awareness of the passions that have taken possession of the heart, leads a person to repentance and blessed sorrow. To the extent of the depth of this sorrow, Divine consolation comes to his soul. It is on this path that a person gains humility and inner peace. Living in spiritual humility, he thirsts even more for God’s justification and strives to keep God’s commandments in his Everyday life. By keeping God's commandments, he is honored with the knowledge of God's mercy and purifies his heart even more. The purpose of the commandments is to purify the soul. Some of them relate to the purification of the rational, others - to the purification of the irritable nature of the soul. And when the soul is cleansed of passions, a person achieves the contemplation of God.
The Beatitudes reveal the essence of spiritual life and the way to heal a person. A person who keeps the commandments is sealed with the seal of the Holy Spirit and becomes a member of the Body of Christ, a temple of the All-Holy Spirit.
Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlahos)
***
Let none of us think: we go to God’s church, we pray, making many bows, and for this we will receive the Kingdom of Heaven. No; the one who keeps the commandments of God will receive it.
Venerable Theodore of Sanaksar
***
The commandments of God are above all the treasures of the world... St. Isaac the Syrian
What can you add to the above?
In the everyday bustle, worries and troubles, one somehow forgets that life is fleeting, and that it is necessary to take care of the Kingdom of God here and now, while still standing with both feet on the sinful earth: then it will simply be too late.
Most often, in youth, people rarely think about the consequences of their actions, and only failures in their personal lives and at work, approaching old age with illnesses force us to re-evaluate our life path, realize what mortal sins were committed in our unbridled worldly life and repent in them.
Each of us is sinful, but sinful in our own way. Someone violated God’s commandment “thou shalt not steal,” and someone violated “thou shalt not kill.” And therefore, each person must repent, both spiritually and actively (doing good deeds), individually, until his soul, after confession and communion, feels lightness and freedom from sin, the joy of God’s forgiveness.
The 10 commandments of God are a kind of code God's Laws, according to which the Lord God Himself recommends that people live, so as not to irritate Him with their bad deeds, so that He does not leave us alone with the flattering and deceitful Satan, so that the Lord does not retreat from us and deprive us of His merciful support, intercession and blessing in all our ways.
God is Gracious and Lover of Mankind. But if a person does not obey His commandments, constantly sins and does not even think about the consequences of his sinful actions, the Lord turns from the Merciful and Helper into the Punisher and Punisher - and how else can you bring some sense to a foolish child who does not obey his Father?
But the Lord Himself rarely resorts to personally punishing a sinner: He simply retreats from such a person, deprives him of all His help, and leaves him to be torn apart by the enemy - evil spirits. It is the devil who “comes off” on the unfortunate presumptuous fornicator, and it is he who sends blows to him from all sides.
Yes, everyone has their own responsibility for committed mortal and ordinary, everyday sins: no one is given the opportunity to know until the very end what awaits him There. But God’s mercy is also manifested in the fact that the Lord cares about us - He does not want us to go to hell, and therefore He sends trials to His beloved children on earth - so that we can come to our senses in time and take the right path.
This is precisely what explains why some notorious scoundrels have been doing their vile deeds for years and decades and nothing happens to them - such inveterate sinners have long become minions of evil spirits, they work for Satan, the Lord has long retreated from them and has already prepared a “warm” place in the underworld. Such people leave life and their imaginary well-being very quickly, abruptly and always unexpectedly - and there, in life after death, they will be repaid in full for every sin.
And that is why the Lord often sends trials to his beloved children in the form of illnesses, failures in work and love, or even in the form of the death of a loved one, just so that we come to our senses and understand that we don’t need to continue sinning like that, that we need to start correcting ourselves right now, otherwise we will continue it will only get worse. Therefore, we should not grumble at God for the punishments sent to us - we must be grateful for them: after all, we deserve them, but they help us become better and leave us hope for Paradise and the Kingdom of Heaven after the end of our life’s journey on earth.
You need to understand the messages from Heaven - if you are persistently haunted by failure in something in life, it means that this is a punishment for some sin that requires your sincere repentance, good deeds, confession and communion, i.e. love for neighbors and visiting the Orthodox Church.
After all, we humans can be so hard-hearted that, without suffering ourselves, we make others suffer, without realizing the extent of their suffering. But through suffering and pain we soften, learn to be condescending and have pity on others, to help those in need, i.e. We become spiritually purer and more worthy of God's grace.
Ten Commandments of God's Law from the Bible:
2. Do not make for yourself an idol or any likeness, both in heaven and on earth, in the waters and under the earth: lest you bow down or serve them.
3. Do not take the name of the Lord God in vain.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Don't steal.
10. Don't covet anything that belongs to others.
You can download these commandments so you can print them out and hang them on your wall as a reminder.
The 10 commandments of God were carved on two tablets that the Lord gave to the prophet Moses during the 40-year journey of the Jews through the desert in search of the Promised Land. If you have read the Old Testament of the Bible, you may remember that Moses smashed the first ten commandments to the ground in anger, because... While he prayed and fasted for 40 days to receive them, his brothers quickly created new idols for themselves and began to worship them.
For this sin, many Jews died, and it was because of this that the Lord extended their trek through the desert up to 40 years - as punishment and edification. And those commandments that we use now were given to Moses a second time.
God's commandments contain instructions to man about two types of love: love for the Lord God and love for one's neighbor. Breaking the last seven commandments of Moses is called a mortal sin. Alas, every person has at one time or another failed to keep one or all of these commandments.
Keeping the first four commandments is an expression of love specifically for God and the fulfillment of duties towards Him. What do God's commandments mean - what are the covenants for Moses and all of us?
1. I am the Lord your God; May you have no other gods besides Me.
How is love for the Creator expressed? The fact is that an Orthodox Christian has only one faith in the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Now it is fashionable to change faith, to profess Islam, then Catholicism, then to indulge in Satanic yoga or Kabbalah, then to profess Scientism along with Hare Krishnaism, then to accept Orthodox Christianity again, then to join one sect, then to another, but this is all wrong. There is one God - a believer should have only one Lord.
2. What does it mean - do not make yourself an idol? The second commandment of God is similar to the first, but only externally.
In fact, it suggests that you cannot worship, pray to the sun, the sky, trees, things, people, practice magic or witchcraft, cast yourself idols for worship, buy some things and idolize them - this is a great sin.
For example, today it is fashionable to buy various disgusting toads and pray to them as sources of wealth. On New Year people stock up on the latest Chinese or Japanese “patrons” - symbols of the New Year - they buy bulls, rats, horses and think that they will help them in their daily affairs. Well, well, let them continue to be deceived.
Modern women they love to delve into horoscopes and dream books, numerology and stoneology - while many of them do not even suspect that by living according to horoscopes and believing in numerology, omens, they are surrendering to the power of Satan. Some do this deliberately - but it is their choice. Orthodox Christian believers should know that believing in omens is a sin. You must believe in God - and trust only in Him: as He pleases, so it will be.
Also, in today's corrupt society, women often call themselves "goddesses", men call themselves "gods", the word "divine" is used inappropriately and for the most part- without meaning. People who call themselves that and verbally classify themselves as God commit a huge sin - this is not even blasphemy, this is desecration of God’s name, this is blasphemy. For such a sin, retribution will definitely come. Don't commit it.
“You shall not make for yourself an idol” also means that worship and the mad pursuit of money, power, sex and other earthly pleasures, obsession with any desire, passion is a sin, like any other passion.
3. “Do not take the name of the Lord God in vain.”
Everything is clear here: you can’t swear, say “By God,” and uselessly repeat “Well, thank God” a hundred times a day like a parrot.
Those. The name of the Lord God must be treated with respect and used in conversation only when it is really necessary.
4. Remember the Sabbath day and respect it: work six days, go about your business, and devote the seventh day, Saturday, to the Lord your God.
The fourth of God’s ten commandments calls on people not to be like animals, but to properly distribute their time: work for six days, and rest and praise the Lord on the seventh day.
The commandments of the Bible mention that the seventh day intended for rest is Saturday, but for Orthodox Christians, due to changes in the calendar, the day for rest is Sunday.
Most people do not follow this simple commandment, but in vain. After all, if you cook, sew, clean, build, do laundry on Sunday, then when do you rest? It turns out that a person drives himself into sin and into hell on earth. Is it really so difficult for our women and men to redo everything on Saturday in order to prepare for rest on Sunday?
But behind this Mosaic covenant there is a great meaning: scientists and psychologists have proven that lack of rest is the simplest and most effective method drive yourself into stress, depression and earn yourself a nervous breakdown (neurosis). Thus, the Lord even here takes care of our spiritual, psychological, and physical health. Only we, stubborn people, mistakenly think that we know more, although in fact we know nothing and do not know even a small fraction of Divine wisdom.
The rest of God's commandments are already clearer to an ordinary person, but difficult to implement.
5. Honor your father and mother, and may you enjoy long life on earth.
Keeping this commandment is easy for a person whose parents loved him and helped him in everything, understood him or tried to understand him. For other children, those who were beaten, constantly scolded and criticized, disliked and humiliated in every possible way, it is much more difficult to complete it.
Yes, not every child succeeds in respecting their father and mother: sometimes parents are really not very good people, and sometimes ungrateful children, until the death of their loving parents, do not understand, do not realize how much good they have done for them.
But the path to happiness in life for every person is through love for parents and their forgiveness. Again, psychologists have scientifically proven that people who have not sincerely and wholeheartedly forgiven their mother and father have big problems with work and in personal relationships, and Main way solutions to these problems - through forgiveness and understanding of parents.
6. Unfortunately, the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” is violated too often now, and in the past too. Throughout human history, people have killed each other for the sake of wealth, power and fame.
But you can't kill people! By killing living people, a person kills a part of his soul.
It is also morally wrong to kill people around you. It’s not for nothing that before Easter, during Lent, Orthodox Church does not so much call for food fasting as it asks Christians to morally not “eat” their neighbors.
As for killing animals, they can and should be killed for food - the Lord created them for our food. In biblical times in the Old Testament, animals were sacrificed to God through burnt offerings. You cannot kill and maim animals and, in general, any creature of God for the sake of entertainment, but for the sake of food, you can.
The Bible also says this about vegetarianism: whoever eats animal food should not be proud of it, and whoever does not eat animal meat should not be arrogant. The Lord doesn’t care whether a person eats meat and animal products or not: It is more important to Him that an Orthodox Christian morally and spiritually does not eat his compatriots.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery is the most “popular” commandment in our time.
IN modern society Infidelity and cohabitation (the so-called “civil” marriage) are in the order of things. But the Church practically equates to adultery not only adultery and civil marriage, but even a legal marriage registered in the registry office, which was not consecrated by the wedding ceremony. It turns out that almost all Slavs violate this commandment every day and constantly commit a mortal sin before God.
Guys and girls cheat on each other in search of self-affirmation and raising self-esteem, but at the same time they lose their human face and turn into brutes, sink below animals, and inevitably lose trust and love for each other, turning into biorobots.
It is important to understand that any betrayal has a negative impact on a person’s spiritual life - from 1 such wormhole, the entire soul can then spiritually “rust”. And then such “cheaters and cheaters” moan on the forums of women’s sites and services psychological assistance, they say, I’m all so unhappy, no one needs me, no one asks me to marry, no one takes me seriously, I’m all so successful at work (I made my career with my body), but there is no happy personal life. And they sincerely do not understand why this is so. Yes, because you need to treat your partners with respect, because you need to love your loved one not only in bed, but also with your heart.
Everything in life is interconnected - and our every action reverberates in our future and affects our lives.
8. “Thou shalt not steal” - in our state the people who have not violated these commandments of God over the past twenty years and even in the last month can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Many people think that by stealing they get rich. They come up with various excuses, saying that I am not stealing this, but that I am compensating for the moral damage caused to me.
But the truth of life is that by robbing the state or employer, a person digs a hole for himself - and then let him not be surprised if his loved ones suddenly begin to get sick or even die. Payback for theft is illness and death of loved ones.
You should not steal not only financial and material wealth, but also the time, energy, and nerves of other people.
So, for example, married men who take mistresses and spend years fooling their brains, telling them about a love that doesn’t exist, rob them - they deprive them of the opportunity to find a good, worthy man and become a happy woman.
A neighbor who annoyingly sits at her friend’s house, not paying attention to her hints, like I’m tired and want to sleep, clean the house - can also serve as an example of this, albeit the most innocent one.
9. Do not bear false witness against your friend.
If you follow the meaning of this God's commandment, then it turns out that it is possible to distort the truth a little so as not to act cruelly. You cannot deliberately accuse another person of something, or maliciously give false testimony about him.
But telling an ugly woman to her face that she is ugly will probably be cruelty, so you can soften the truth a little and if she asks a question about her appearance, answer, like, you’re pretty.
One must be able to feel the line between truth and cruelty: truth itself without love for one’s neighbor, which hurts and hurts, is also a great sin.
10 The commandment of God from the Bible - You shall not covet a wife, a house, a village, a male or female servant, an ox, a donkey, any livestock, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
This very last commandment of the Lord concerns such a mortal sin as envy - the main cause of most of our sins.
Why want a wife or the house of your friend, when you can, by rolling up your sleeves, build a bigger and better house for yourself, and find another girl, even more beautiful and sweeter?
The feeling of envy usually comes from limitations in the brain and the inability to look at the situation from the outside. Everything in your neighbor's garden looks more appetizing.
As Mikhail Zadornov said, envy is what I depend on, just like revenge is what “eats me.”
This last injunction can be seen as a general message not to experience negative emotions, which destroy a person from the inside, but do not bring him any closer to his goal.
Also, I think that the father of envy and other sins - jealousy, hatred, anger, irritation, selfishness, perfectionism, etc. is PRIDE - the most terrible sin possible, for which the greatest penalty is paid.
People should not become arrogant and exalted, so that later it will not be very painful to fall.
In fact, keeping all ten commandments of God is not that difficult.
2 Commandments of Jesus Christ
You just have to love. Love for God and neighbors - this is the main commandment of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who wrote with his suffering New Testament in the Bible. This commandment of Love was brought to us by the God-Man, descending from Heaven to earth, to hell and again to Heaven, in order to atone for our sins with his suffering and to appease God the Father, to make His attitude towards people softer and more condescending.
If in the Old Testament of the Bible the Lord was Punisher and Punisher, then in the New Testament God is Merciful, Forgiving and Long-suffering. The Lord gives us the right to choose, which Satan is trying to deprive us of by hook or by crook (with the help of horoscopes and signs, numerology and dream books, sins and unrepentance for them). The Holy Trinity gives us freedom of action, thoughts, behavior, because... trusts in our goodwill and obedience. We must appreciate this.
So let’s love the Lord not only in words, but also with our deeds, and then the Lord will love us, and will not turn His Face away from us, will help us in all our paths and deeds - and what could be better when a person feels God’s support and blessing even in the most crisis situations?
Love God, love your loved ones, respect strangers, help those in need, appreciate nature and life. After all, the main secret of God’s 10 commandments is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment - Jesus. The second commandment of Christ is similar to it: Love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
One of the strongest regulators of people's actions, actions and thoughts is religion. She gave us simple rules lives that anyone can fulfill, even a non-religious person.
The commandments of God are not just 10 rules that were once accepted as a basis christian religion. You don't have to go to church every day for God to give you happiness. To do this, it is enough to show respect for his covenants and for the people around him. This is useful even from an energetic point of view, because positive and “pure” people always have more friends and fewer problems in their lives. This is evidenced by the philosophy of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and most religions.
10 commandments
First commandment: May you have no other Gods besides me. This is a purely Christian commandment, but it also tells everyone without exception that there can only be one truth. There are no exceptions.
Commandment two: Do not make yourself an idol. You don't need to look up to anyone other than God. This is disrespect for higher powers and for ourselves. We are all unique and deserve to go through life's journey to be an example for future generations. You can learn good things from others, but do not listen to them unquestioningly in everything, for people do not always advise and say what is pleasing to our Lord.
Commandment three: The name of the Lord should be uttered only when there is a compelling reason to do so. Try to talk less about Jesus Christ in simple conversations, and especially when your words are negative and dark.
Commandment four: Sunday is a day off. If you do not work on Sunday, then dedicate this day to proper rest. Always leave household chores for Saturday or weekdays. This is correct from any point of view, because from the point of view of bioenergy, one day a week should be a fasting day. Rest will increase your energy and give you good luck.
Fifth commandment: respect your parents. When children behave incorrectly towards their parents, this indicates that they are capable of hurting anyone. They gave you life, therefore they are worthy of respect or at least gratitude, because they do not require anything from you in return.
Sixth commandment: dont kill. Comments are unnecessary here, because taking the life of another person, even within the framework of the law, is disputed in many countries. The only reason to take a life is a threat to your life. Even in cases of self-defense, people do not tolerate such “gifts” of fate well.
Seventh Commandment: Thou shalt not commit adultery. Don't cheat on your partner and don't get divorced. Because of this, you yourself and your children, if you have them, suffer. Look for ways to create, not destroy. Don't damage yourself and your marriage with cheating. This looks like real disrespect.
Eighth commandment: don't steal. Here, comments are also unnecessary, because the appropriation of what belongs to another is an extreme form of immorality.
Ninth Commandment: do not lie. Lies are the main enemy of purity. A lie uttered by a child may be harmless, but an adult who lies for his own benefit cannot be happy, because the mask he puts on can become his true face.
Tenth Commandment: do not envy . The Bible says that you must not covet your neighbor's wife, your neighbor's house, or anything that he has. Be content with what you have and pursue your own happiness. This is self-confidence, which is immaculate and pure. Bioenergetics experts say that envy destroys a person from the inside, not giving him a chance at happiness. It blocks the exchange of energy with the Universe, which helps us to be luckier and happier.
Keep it simple and respect everyone around you. Let happiness pulsate within you with love and understanding, and not with envy and anger. Believe in yourself and your humanity. Fulfilling the covenants of Christianity will help you with this.
Live in such a way that your actions do not harm other people. Open your mind, for all thoughts are material. You can achieve happiness only by thinking about it and letting it into your life and into your consciousness. Good luck and don't forget to press the buttons and
08.11.2016 03:20
Prayers addressed to God and the saints will help you heal your soul and body from various...
Truly, there is nothing more dangerous and destructive for the soul than inheriting a large fortune. Be sure that the devil rejoices more at a rich inheritance than an angel, for the devil does not spoil people so easily and quickly as with a large inheritance.
Therefore, brother, work hard and teach your children to work. And when you work, do not look only for profit, benefit and success in your work. It is better to find in your work the beauty and pleasure that work itself gives.
For one chair that a carpenter makes, he can get ten dinars, or fifty, or a hundred. But the beauty of the product and the pleasure from the work that the master feels when he is inspiredly strict, gluing and polishing the wood, does not pay off in any way. This pleasure is reminiscent of the highest pleasure that the Lord experienced at the creation of the world, when He inspiredly “planed, glued and polished” it. The whole of God's world could have its own certain price and could pay off, but its beauty and the Creator's pleasure during the Creation of the world has no price.
Know that you demean your work if you think only about the material benefits from it. Know that such work is not given to a person, he will not succeed, and will not bring him the expected profit. And the tree will be angry with you and resist you if you work on it not out of love, but for profit. And the land will hate you if you plow it without thinking about its beauty, but only about your profit from it. Iron will burn you, water will drown you, stone will crush you, if you do not look at them with love, but in everything you see only your ducats and dinars.
Work without selfishness, just as a nightingale unselfishly sings its songs. And so the Lord will go ahead of you in His work, and you will follow Him. If you run past God and rush forward, leaving God behind, your work will bring you a curse, not a blessing.
And on the seventh day rest.
How to relax? Remember, rest can only be close to God and in God. In this world, true rest cannot be found anywhere else, for this light is seething like a whirlpool.
Dedicate the seventh day entirely to God, and then you will truly rest and be filled with new strength.
Throughout the seventh day, think about God, talk about God, read about God, listen about God and pray to God. This way you will truly rest and be filled with new strength.
There is a parable about labor on Sunday.
A certain person did not honor God’s commandment to celebrate Sunday and continued Saturday labors on Sunday. When the whole village was resting, he worked until he sweated in the field with his oxen, which he also did not allow to rest. However, the next week on Wednesday he became weak, and his oxen became weak; and when the whole village went out into the field, he remained at home, tired, gloomy and despairing.
Therefore, brothers, do not be like this man, so as not to lose strength, health and soul. But work for six days as companions of the Lord, with love, pleasure and reverence, and devote the seventh day entirely to the Lord God. I have learned from my own experience that spending Sunday correctly inspires, renews and makes a person happy.
THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT
. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days on earth may be long.
This means:
Before you knew the Lord God, your parents knew Him. This alone is enough for you to bow to them with respect and give praise. Bow down and give praise to everyone who knew the Highest in this world before you.
One rich young Indian was passing through the passes of the Hindu Kush with his retinue. In the mountains he met an old man grazing goats. The poor old man came down to the side of the road and bowed to the rich young man. And the young man jumped off his elephant and prostrated himself before the old man. The elder was amazed at this, and the people from his retinue were also amazed. And he said to the old man:
“I bow before your eyes, for they saw this world, the creation of the Almighty, before mine.” I bow before your lips, for they uttered His holy name before mine. I bow before your heart, for before mine it trembled with the joyful realization that the Father of all people on earth is the Lord, the Heavenly King.
Honor your father and your mother, for your path from birth to this day is watered with your mother’s tears and your father’s sweat. They loved you even when everyone else, weak and dirty, disgusted you. They will love you even when everyone else hates you. And when everyone throws stones at you, your mother will throw you immortelle and basil - symbols of holiness.
Your father loves you, although he knows all your shortcomings. And others will hate you, although they will only know your virtues.
Your parents love you with reverence, because they know that you are a gift from God, entrusted to them for their preservation and upbringing. No one except your parents is able to see the mystery of God in you. Their love for you has a holy root in eternity.
Through their tenderness towards you, your parents comprehend the tenderness of the Lord towards all His children.
Just as spurs remind a horse of a good trot, so your harshness towards your parents encourages them to care about you even more.
There is a parable about a father's love.
A certain son, spoiled and cruel, rushed at his father and plunged a knife into his chest. And the father, giving up the ghost, said to his son:
“Hurry up and wipe the blood off the knife so you don’t get caught and brought to justice.”
There is also a parable about maternal love.
In the Russian steppe, one immoral son tied his mother in front of a tent, and in the tent he drank with the walking women and his people. Then the Haiduks appeared and, seeing the mother tied up, decided to immediately avenge her. But then the bound mother shouted at the top of her voice and thereby gave a sign to her unfortunate son that he was in danger. And the son escaped, but the robbers killed the mother instead of the son.
And another parable about the father.
In Tehran, a Persian city, an old father and two daughters lived in the same house. The daughters did not listen to their father's advice and laughed at him. With their bad lives, they besmirched their honor and disgraced their father’s good name. The father interfered with them, like a silent reproach of conscience. One evening, the daughters, thinking that their father was sleeping, agreed to prepare poison and give it to him in the morning with tea. But my father heard everything and cried bitterly all night and prayed to God. In the morning, the daughter brought tea and placed it in front of him. Then the father said:
“I know about your intention and will leave you as you wish.” But I want to leave not with your sin in order to save your souls, but with my own.
Having said this, the father overturned the cup of poison and left the house.
Son, do not be proud of your knowledge before your uneducated father, for his love is worth more than your knowledge. Think that if it weren’t for him, there would be neither you nor your knowledge.
Daughter, do not be proud of your beauty in front of your hunched mother, for her heart is more beautiful than your face. Remember that both you and your beauty came from her exhausted body.
Day and night, develop in yourself, son, reverence for your mother, for only in this way will you learn to honor all other mothers on earth.
Truly, children, you do not do much if you honor your father and mother, and despise other fathers and mothers. Respect for your parents should become for you a school of respect for all men and all women who give birth in pain, raise them in the sweat of their brow, and love their children in suffering. Remember this and live according to this commandment, so that the Lord will bless you on earth.
Truly, children, you do not do much if you honor only the personalities of your father and mother, but not their work, not their time, not their contemporaries. Think that by respecting your parents, you honor their work, their era, and their contemporaries. This way you will kill in yourself the fatal and stupid habit of despising the past. My children, believe that the days given to you are no more dear and no closer to the Lord than the days of those who lived before you. If you are proud of your time before the past, do not forget that before you even blink an eye, the grass will begin to grow over your graves, your era, your bodies and deeds, and others will begin to laugh at you as a backward past.
Any time is full of mothers and fathers, pain, sacrifices, love, hope and faith in God. Therefore, any time is worthy of respect.
The sage bows with respect to all past eras, as well as to future ones. For the wise man knows what the fool does not know, namely, that his time is only a minute on the clock. Look, children, at the clock; listen to how minute after minute passes and tell me which minute is better, longer and more important than others?
Get on your knees, children, and pray to God with me:
“Lord, Heavenly Father, glory to You that You commanded us to honor our father and mother on earth. Help us, O All-Merciful One, through this veneration to learn to respect all men and women on earth, Your precious children. And help us, O All-Wise One, through this to learn not to despise, but to honor previous eras and generations who saw Your glory before us and uttered Your holy name. Amen".
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT
Dont kill.
This means:
God breathed life from His life into every created being. is the most precious wealth given by God. Therefore, the one who encroaches on any life on earth raises his hand against the most precious gift of God, moreover, against the life of God itself. All of us living today are only temporary carriers of the life of God within ourselves, guardians of the most precious gift that belongs to God. Therefore, we do not have the right and cannot take away the life borrowed from God, either from ourselves or from others.
And this means
– firstly, we have no right to kill;
– secondly, we cannot kill life.
If a clay pot happens to break at the market, the potter will become furious and demand compensation for the loss. In truth, man is also made from the same cheap material as a pot, but what is hidden in it is priceless. This is the soul that creates a person from the inside, and the Spirit of God that gives life to the soul.
Neither father nor mother have the right to take the life of their children, for it is not parents who give life, but through parents. And since parents do not give life, they have no right to take it away.
But if parents who work so hard to put their children on their feet do not have the right to take their lives, how can those who accidentally encounter life path with their children?
If you happen to break a pot at the market, it will hurt not the pot, but the potter who made it. In the same way, if a person is killed, it is not the person killed who feels the pain, but the Lord God, Who created man, exalted and breathed His Spirit.
So if the one who broke the pot must compensate the loss to the potter, then even more so must the murderer compensate God for the life he took. Even if people do not demand compensation, they will. Murderer, do not deceive yourself: even if people forget about your crime, God cannot forget. Look, there are things that even the Lord cannot do. For example, He cannot forget about your crime. Always remember this, remember in your anger before you grab a knife or gun.
On the other hand, we cannot kill life. To kill life completely would be to kill God, for life belongs to God. Who can kill God? You can break a pot, but you cannot destroy the clay from which it was made. In the same way, you can crush a person’s body, but you cannot break, burn, scatter, or spill his soul and spirit.
There is a parable about life.
A certain terrible, bloodthirsty vizier ruled in Constantinople, whose favorite pastime was to watch every day how the executioner cut off heads in front of his palace. And on the streets of Constantinople there lived one holy fool, a righteous man and a prophet, whom all people considered God's saint. One morning, when the executioner was executing another unfortunate man in front of the vizier, the holy fool stood under his windows and began swinging an iron hammer right and left.
-What are you doing? – asked the vizier.
“The same as you,” answered the holy fool.
- Like this? – the vizier asked again.
“Yes,” answered the holy fool. “I'm trying to kill the wind with this hammer.” And you are trying to kill life with a knife. My work is in vain, just like yours. You, vizier, cannot kill life, just as I cannot kill the wind.
The vizier silently retreated into the dark chambers of his palace and did not allow anyone to approach him. For three days he did not eat, drink, or see anyone. And on the fourth day he called his friends and said:
– Truly the man of God is right. I acted stupidly. cannot be destroyed, just as the wind cannot be killed.
In America, in the city of Chicago, two men lived next door. One of them was flattered by his neighbor’s wealth, sneaked into his house at night and cut off his head, then put the money in his bosom and went home. But as soon as he went out into the street, he saw a murdered neighbor who was walking towards him. Only on the neighbor’s shoulders was not his head, but his own head. In horror, the killer crossed to the other side of the street and started to run, but the neighbor again appeared in front of him and walked towards him, looking like him, like a reflection in a mirror. The killer broke out in a cold sweat. Somehow he reached his home and barely survived that night. However, the next night his neighbor again appeared to him with his own head. And this happened every night. Then the killer took the stolen money and threw it into the river. But that didn't help either. The neighbor appeared to him night after night. The killer surrendered to the court, admitted his guilt and was sent to hard labor. But even in prison the killer could not sleep a wink, for every night he saw his neighbor with his own head on his shoulders. In the end, he began to ask one old priest to pray to God for him, a sinner, and give him communion. The priest replied that before prayer and communion he must make one confession. The convict replied that he had already confessed to the murder of his neighbor. “It’s not that,” the priest told him, “you must see, understand and recognize that your neighbor’s life is yours.” own life. And by killing him, you killed yourself. That's why you see your head on the body of the murdered man. By this God gives you a sign that your life, and the life of your neighbor, and the life of all people together, is one and the same life.”
The convict thought about it. After much thought, he understood everything. Then he prayed to God and took communion. And then the spirit of the murdered man stopped haunting him, and he began to spend days and nights in repentance and prayer, telling the rest of the condemned about the miracle that was revealed to him, namely, that a person cannot kill another without killing himself.
Ah, brothers, how terrible are the consequences of murder! If this could be described to all people, truly there would not be a madman who would encroach on someone else’s life.
God awakens the murderer's conscience, and his own conscience begins to wear away at him from the inside, like a worm under the bark wears away at a tree. Conscience gnaws, and beats, and rumbles, and roars like a mad lioness, and the unfortunate criminal finds no peace either day or night, neither in the mountains, nor in the valleys, nor in this life, nor in the grave. It would be easier for a person if his skull were opened and a swarm of bees settled inside, than for an unclean, troubled conscience to settle in his head.
That is why, brothers, I forbade people, for the sake of their peace and happiness, from killing.
“Oh, Good Lord, how sweet and useful is every commandment of Yours! O Lord Almighty, save Your servant from evil deeds and a vengeful conscience, in order to glorify and praise You forever and ever. Amen".
SEVENTH COMMANDMENT
. Don't commit adultery.
And this means:
Do not have an illicit relationship with a woman. Truly, in this, animals are more obedient to God than many people.
Adultery destroys a person physically and mentally. Adulterers are usually twisted like a bow before old age and end their lives in wounds, pain and madness. The most terrible and evil diseases known to medicine are diseases that multiply and spread among people through adultery. The body of an adulterer is constantly sick, like a stinking puddle, from which everyone turns away in disgust and runs away with their nose pinched.
But if evil concerned only those who create this evil, the problem would not be so terrible. However, it is simply terrible when you think that the illnesses of their parents are inherited by the children of adulterers: sons and daughters, and even grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Truly, diseases from adultery are the scourge of humanity, like aphids on a vineyard. These diseases, more than any other, are dragging humanity back toward decline.
The picture is quite scary if we only bear in mind bodily pain and deformity, rotting and decay of the flesh from bad diseases. But the picture is complemented and becomes even more terrible when mental deformity is added to physical deformities, as a consequence of the sin of adultery. Because of this evil, a person’s spiritual strength weakens and becomes upset. The patient loses the sharpness, depth and height of thought that he had before the illness. He is confused, forgetful and constantly tired. He is no longer capable of any serious work. His character changes completely, and he indulges in all sorts of vices: drunkenness, gossip, lies, theft, and so on. He develops a terrible hatred for everything that is good, decent, honest, bright, prayerful, spiritual, and divine. He hates good people and tries his best to harm them, denigrate them, slander them, harm them. Like a true misanthrope, he is also a hater of God. He hates any laws, both human and God's, and therefore hates all legislators and keepers of the law. He becomes a persecutor of order, goodness, will, holiness and ideal. He is like a fetid puddle for society, which rots and stinks, infecting everything around. His body is pus, and his soul is also pus.
This is why, brothers, God, who knows everything and foresees everything, has imposed a ban on adultery, fornication, and extramarital affairs between people.
Young people especially need to beware of this evil and avoid it like a poisonous viper. The people where young people indulge in promiscuity and “free love” have no future. Such a nation will, over time, have increasingly crippled, stupid and feeble generations, until finally it is captured by a healthier people who will come to subjugate it.
Anyone who knows how to read the past of mankind can find out what terrible punishments befell the adulterous tribes and peoples. The Holy Scripture speaks of the fall of two cities - Sodom and Gomorrah, in which it was impossible to find even ten righteous people and virgins. For this, the Lord God rained fire and brimstone on them, and both cities immediately found themselves buried, as if in a grave.
May the Lord Almighty help you, brothers, not to slip on dangerous path adultery. May your Guardian Angel keep peace and love in your home.
May the Mother of God inspire your sons and daughters with Her Divine chastity, so that their bodies and souls are not stained by sin, but they are pure and bright, so that the Holy Spirit can fit into them and breathe into them what is divine, what is from God. Amen.
THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT
Don't steal.
And this means:
Do not upset your neighbor by disrespecting his property rights. Don't do what foxes and mice do if you think you are better than the fox and the mouse. The fox steals without knowing the law on theft; and the mouse gnaws at the barn, not realizing that it is harming anyone. Both the fox and the mouse understand only their own needs, but not the loss of others. They are not given to understand, but you are given. Therefore, you cannot be forgiven for what is forgiven for a fox and a mouse. Your benefit must always be legal, it must not be to the detriment of your neighbor.
Brothers, only the ignorant steal, that is, those who do not know the two main truths of this life.
The first truth is that a person cannot steal without being noticed.
The second truth is that a person cannot profit from stealing.
"Like this?" - many nations will ask and many ignorant people will be surprised.
That's how.
Our Universe is many-eyed. All of it is strewn with an abundance of eyes, like a plum tree in spring sometimes completely covered with white flowers. Some of these eyes people see and feel their gaze on them, but a significant part they neither see nor feel. An ant swarming in the grass does not feel the gaze of a sheep grazing above it, nor the gaze of a person watching it. In the same way, people do not feel the gaze of an innumerable number of higher beings who watch us at every step of our life's journey. There are millions and millions of spirits who closely monitor what is happening on every inch of the earth. How then can a thief steal without being noticed? How then can a thief steal without it being discovered? It is impossible to put your hand in your pocket without millions of witnesses seeing it. Moreover, it is impossible to put your hand in someone else’s pocket without millions of higher powers raising the alarm. One who understands this argues that a person cannot steal unnoticed and with impunity. This is the first truth.
Another truth is that a person cannot profit from theft, for how can he use stolen goods if the invisible eyes saw everything and pointed to it? And if they pointed to him, then the secret will become clear, and the name “thief” will stick to him until his death. The powers of heaven can point out a thief in a thousand ways.
There is a parable about fishermen.
On the banks of one river lived two fishermen with their families. One had many children, and the other was childless. Every evening both fishermen cast their nets and went to bed. For some time now, it has become so that a fisherman with many children always had two or three fish in his nets, while a fisherman without children always had an abundance. A childless fisherman, out of mercy, pulled out several fish from his full net and gave them to his neighbor. This went on for quite a long time, perhaps a whole year. While one of them grew rich by trading fish, the other barely made ends meet, sometimes not even being able to buy bread for his children.
“What’s the matter?” - thought the unfortunate poor man. But then one day, while he was sleeping, the truth was revealed to him. A certain man appeared to him in a dream in a dazzling radiance, like an angel of God, and said: “Get up quickly and go to the river. There you will see why you are poor. But when you see it, don’t give in to your anger.”
Then the fisherman woke up and jumped out of bed. Having crossed himself, he went out to the river and saw his neighbor throwing fish after fish from his net into his. The poor fisherman's blood boiled with indignation, but he remembered the warning and humbled his anger. Having cooled down a little, he calmly said to the thief: “Neighbor, maybe I can help you? Well, why are you suffering alone!
Caught red-handed, the neighbor was simply numb with fear. When he came to his senses, he threw himself at the feet of the poor fisherman and exclaimed: “Truly, the Lord has pointed out to you my crime. It’s hard for me, a sinner!” And then he gave half of his wealth to the poor fisherman so that he would not tell people about him and would not send him to prison.
There is a parable about a merchant.
In one Arab city there lived a merchant Ishmael. Whenever he released goods to customers, he always shortchanged them by a few drachmas. And his fortune greatly increased. However, his children were sick, and he spent a lot of money on doctors and medicine. And the more he spent on treating children, the more he deceived his customers. But the more he deceived customers, the more sick his children became.
One day, when Ishmael was sitting alone in his shop, full of worries about his children, it seemed to him that for a moment the heavens opened. He raised his eyes to the sky to see what was happening there. And he sees: angels are standing at huge scales, measuring out all the benefits that the Lord bestows on people. And now it was the turn of Ishmael’s family. When the angels began to measure the health of his children, they threw less weights on the scale of health than there were weights on the scales. Ishmael became angry and wanted to shout at the angels, but then one of them turned to him and said: “The measure is right. Why are you angry? We don’t give your children exactly as much as you don’t give to your customers. And this is how we fulfill God’s righteousness.”
Ishmael jerked as if he had been pierced by a sword. And he began to bitterly repent of his grave sin. From then on, Ishmael began to not only weigh correctly, but always added extra. And his children returned to health.
In addition, brothers, a stolen thing constantly reminds a person that it is stolen and that it is not his property.
There is a parable about a clock.
One guy stole a pocket watch and wore it for a month. After that, he returned the watch to the owner, admitted his offense and said:
“Whenever I took my watch out of my pocket and looked at it, I heard it say: “We are not yours; you're a thief!"
The Lord knew that theft would make both of them unhappy: the one who stole and the one from whom it was stolen. And so that people, His sons, would not be unhappy, the Wise Lord gave us this commandment: do not steal.
“We thank You, Lord our God, for this commandment, which we really need for the sake of peace of mind and our happiness. Command, O Lord, Thy fire, let it burn our hands if they reach out to steal. Command, O Lord, Thy serpents, let them wrap themselves around our feet if they go out to steal. But, most importantly, we pray to You, Almighty, cleanse our hearts from thieves’ thoughts and our spirit from thieves’ thoughts. Amen".
THE NINTH COMMANDMENT
. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
And this means:
Do not be deceitful, either to yourself or to others. If you lie about yourself, you know you are lying. But if you slander someone else, that other person knows that you are slandering him.
When you praise yourself and brag to people, people do not know that you are falsely testifying about yourself, but you yourself know it. But if you repeat these lies about yourself, people will eventually realize that you are deceiving them. However, if you constantly repeat the same lies about yourself, people will know that you are lying, but then you yourself will begin to believe your own lies. So the lie will become the truth for you, and you will get used to the lie, like a blind man gets used to darkness.
When you slander another person, that person knows that you are lying. This is the first witness against you. And you know that you are slandering him. This means that you are a second witness against yourself. And the Lord God is the third witness. Therefore, whenever you bear false witness against your neighbor, know that three witnesses will testify against you: God, your neighbor, and yourself. And rest assured, one of these three witnesses will expose you to the whole world.
This is how the Lord can expose false testimony against one's neighbor.
There is a parable about a slanderer.
In one village lived two neighbors, Luka and Ilya. Luka could not stand Ilya, because Ilya was a correct, hard-working person, and Luka was a drunkard and a lazy man. In a fit of hatred, Luke went to court and reported that Ilya had spoken abusive words to the king. Ilya defended himself as best he could, and in the end, turning to Luke, he said: “God willing, the Lord Himself will reveal your lies against me.” However, the court sent Ilya to prison, and Luke returned home.
As he approached his house, he heard crying in the house. From a terrible premonition the blood froze in his veins, for Luke remembered Elijah’s curse. Entering the house, he was horrified. His old father fell into a fire and burned his entire face and eyes. When Luke saw this, he was speechless and could neither speak nor cry. At dawn the next day, he went to court and admitted that he had slandered Ilya. The judge immediately released Ilya, and punished Luka for perjury. So Luke suffered two punishments for one: both from God and from people.
Here is an example of how your neighbor can expose your false testimony.
In Nice there lived a butcher named Anatole. A certain rich but dishonest merchant bribed him to give false testimony against his neighbor Emil, that he, Anatole, saw how Emil poured kerosene and set fire to the house of this merchant. And Anatole testified to this in court and swore an oath. Emil was convicted. But he swore that when he served his sentence, he would live only to prove that Anatole had perjured himself.
Coming out of prison, Emil, being a efficient man, soon accumulated a thousand Napoleons. He decided that he would give this entire thousand to force Anatole to admit to witnesses his slander. First of all, Emil found people who knew Anatole and made such a plan. They were supposed to invite Anatole to dinner, give him a good drink and then tell him that they needed a witness who would testify under oath at the trial that a certain innkeeper was sheltering the robbers.
The plan was a great success. Anatole was told the essence of the matter, laid out a thousand gold Napoleons in front of him and asked if he could find a reliable person who would show what they needed at the trial. Anatole's eyes lit up when he saw a pile of gold in front of him, and he immediately declared that he would take on this matter himself. Then his friends pretended to doubt whether he would be able to do everything right, whether he would be afraid, whether he would not be confused at the trial. Anatole began to ardently convince them that he could do it. And then they asked him if he had ever done such things and how successfully? Unaware of the trap, Anatole admitted that there was a case when he was paid for false testimony against Emil, who as a result was sent to hard labor.
Having heard everything they needed, the friends went to Emil and told him everything. The next morning, Emil filed a complaint with the court. Anatole was tried and sent to hard labor. Thus, the inevitable punishment of God overtook the slanderer and restored the good name of a decent person.
Here is an example of how a false witness himself confessed to his crime.
In one town there lived two guys, two friends, Georgy and Nikola. Both were unmarried. And both fell in love with the same girl, the daughter of a poor artisan, who had seven daughters, all unmarried. The eldest was called Flora. It was this Flora that both friends were looking at. But Georgy turned out to be faster. He wooed Flora and asked his friend to be the best man. Nikola was overcome with such envy that he decided to prevent their wedding at all costs. And he began to dissuade George from marrying Flora, because, according to him, she was a dishonest girl and went out with many people. His friend’s words struck George like a sharp knife, and he began to assure Nikola that this could not be true. Then Nikola said that he himself had a relationship with Flora. George believed his friend, went to her parents and refused to marry. Soon the whole city knew about it. A shameful stain fell on the whole family. The sisters began to reproach Flora. And she, in despair, unable to justify herself, threw herself into the sea and drowned.
About a year later, Nikola came in on Maundy Thursday and heard the priest calling parishioners to communion. “But let thieves, liars, oathbreakers and those who besmirched the honor of an innocent girl not approach the Chalice. It would be better for them to take fire into themselves than the Blood of the pure and innocent Jesus Christ,” he concluded.
Hearing such words, Nikola trembled like an aspen leaf. Immediately after the service, he asked the priest to confess him, which the priest did. Nikola confessed everything and asked what he should do to save himself from the reproaches of a bad conscience, which was gnawing at him like a hungry lioness. The priest advised him, if he was truly ashamed of his sin and afraid of punishment, to tell about his offense publicly, through the newspaper.
Nikola did not sleep the whole night, gathering all his courage to repent publicly. The next morning he wrote about everything he had done, namely, how he had cast a disgrace on the venerable family of a decent artisan and how he had lied to his friend. At the end of the letter he wrote: “I will not go to trial. The court will not condemn me to Death, but I only deserve death. Therefore, I sentence myself to death.” And the next day he hanged himself.
“Oh, Lord, Righteous God, how miserable are people who do not follow Your holy commandment and do not bridle their sinful heart and their tongue with an iron bridle. God, help me, a sinner, not to sin against the truth. Make me wise with Your truth, Jesus, Son of God, burn away all the lies in my heart, like a gardener burns the nests of caterpillars on the fruit trees in the garden. Amen".
THE TENTH COMMANDMENT
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; You shall not covet your neighbor's wife; neither his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.
And this means:
As soon as you desire something that belongs to someone else, you have already fallen into sin. Now the question is, will you come to your senses, will you come to your senses, or will you continue to roll along the inclined plane down, where does the desire for someone else's take you?
Desire is the seed of sin. A sinful act is already a harvest from the seed sown and grown.
Pay attention to the differences between this, the tenth commandment of the Lord, and the previous nine. In the previous nine commandments, the Lord God prevents your sinful actions, that is, does not allow the harvest to grow from the seed of sin. And in this tenth commandment, the Lord looks at the root of sin and does not allow you to sin in your thoughts. This commandment serves as a bridge between the Old Testament given by God through the prophet Moses and the New Testament given by God through Jesus Christ, because as you read, you will see that the Lord no longer commands people not to kill with their hands, not to commit adultery with the flesh, not to steal with their hands, don't lie with your tongue. On the contrary, He descends into the depths of the human soul and obliges us not to kill even in our thoughts, not to imagine adultery even in our thoughts, not to steal even in our thoughts, not to lie in silence.
So, the tenth commandment serves as a transition to the Law of Christ, which is more moral, higher and more important than the Law of Moses.
Do not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor. For as soon as you desired something that belongs to someone else, you have already sown the seed of evil in your heart, and the seed will grow, and grow, and grow, and become stronger, and branch out, reaching into your hands, and your feet, and your eyes, and your tongue, and your whole body. For the body, brothers, is executive agency souls. The body only carries out the orders given by the soul. What the soul wants, the body must fulfill, and what the soul does not want, the body cannot fulfill.
Which plant, brothers, grows the fastest? Fern, isn't it? But a desire sown in the human heart grows faster than a fern. Today it will grow just a little, tomorrow – twice as much, the day after tomorrow – four times, the day after tomorrow – sixteen times, and so on.
If today you are envious of your neighbor’s house, tomorrow you will begin to make plans to appropriate it, the day after tomorrow you will demand that he give you his house, and after the day after tomorrow you will take his house away or set it on fire.
If today you looked at his wife with lust, tomorrow you will begin to figure out how to kidnap her, the day after tomorrow you will enter into an illegal relationship with her, and the day after tomorrow you will plan, together with her, to kill your neighbor and possess his wife.
If today you desired your neighbor’s ox, tomorrow you will want that ox twice as much, the day after tomorrow four times as much, and the day after tomorrow you will steal his ox. And if your neighbor accuses you of stealing his ox, you will swear in court that the ox is yours.
This is how sinful deeds grow from sinful thoughts. And also, note that the one who tramples this tenth commandment will break the other nine commandments one after another.
Listen to my advice: try to fulfill this last commandment of God, and it will be easier for you to fulfill all the others. Believe me, the one whose heart is filled with evil desires darkens his soul so much that he becomes unable to believe in the Lord God, and to work at a certain time, and to observe Sunday, and to honor his parents. In truth, it is true for all commandments: if you break even one, you will break all ten.
There is a parable about sinful thoughts.
One righteous man named Laurus left his village and went to the mountains, eradicating all his desires in his soul, except the desire to devote himself to God and get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Laurus spent several years in fasting and prayer, thinking only about God. When he returned to the village again, all his fellow villagers marveled at his holiness. And everyone revered him as a true man of God. And there lived in that village someone named Thaddeus, who envied Laurus and told his fellow villagers that he too could become the same as Laurus. Then Thaddeus retired to the mountains and began to exhaust himself with fasting alone. However, a month later Thaddeus returned. And when fellow villagers asked what he had been doing all this time, he replied:
“I killed, I stole, I lied, I slandered people, I extolled myself, I committed adultery, I set houses on fire.
- How can this be if you were there alone?
- Yes, I was alone in body, but in soul and heart I was always among people, and what I could not do with my hands, feet, tongue and body, I did mentally in my soul.
This is how, brothers, a person can sin even alone. Despite the fact that a bad person leaves the society of people, his sinful desires, his dirty soul and unclean thoughts will not leave him.
Therefore, brothers, let us pray to God that He will help us fulfill this last commandment of His and thereby prepare to listen, understand and accept God’s New Testament, that is, the Testament of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
“Lord God, Great and Terrible Lord, Great in His deeds, Terrible in His inevitable truth! Give us a little of Your power, Your wisdom and Your good will to live according to this holy and great commandment of Yours. Choke, O God, every sinful desire in our hearts before it begins to choke us.
O Lord of the world, saturate our souls and bodies with Your power, for with our strength we cannot do anything; and nourish with Your wisdom, for our wisdom is stupidity and darkness of mind; and nourish with Your will, for our will, without Your good will, always serves evil. Come closer to us, Lord, so that we too may come closer to You. Bend down to us, O God, so that we may rise to You.
Sow, Lord, Your holy Law into our hearts, sow, plant, water, and let it grow, branch, blossom and bear fruit, for if You leave us alone with Your Law, without You we will not be able to get closer to it.
May Your name be glorified, O Lord, and may we honor Moses, Your chosen one and prophet, through whom You gave us that clear and powerful Testament.
Help us, Lord, to learn word for word that First Testament, in order through it to prepare for the great and glorious Testament of Your Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, our Savior, to Whom, together with You and with the Life-giving Holy Spirit, eternal glory, and song, and worship from generation to generation per generation, from century to century, until the end of time, until the Last Judgment, until the separation of unrepentant sinners from the righteous, until the victory over Satan, until the destruction of his kingdom of darkness and the reign of Your Eternal Kingdom over all kingdoms known to the mind and visible to the human eye. Amen".
God wants people to be happy, to love Him, to love each other and not to harm themselves and others, thereforeHe gave us commandments. They express spiritual laws, they protect us from harm and teach us how to live and build relationships with God and people. Just as parents warn their children about danger and teach them about life, so our Heavenly Father gives us the necessary instructions. The commandments were given to people in the Old Testament.People of the New Testament, Christians, are also required to observe the Ten Commandments. “Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill” ( Matt. 5:17), says the Lord Jesus Christ.
The most important law of the spiritual world is the law of love for God and people.
All ten commandments speak about this law. They were given to Moses in the form of two stone slabs - tablets, on one of which were written the first four commandments, speaking about love for the Lord, and on the second - the remaining six, about attitude towards others. When our Lord Jesus Christ was asked: “What is the great commandment in the law?”, He answered: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind”: this is the first and greatest commandment. The second is similar to it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" ( Matt. 22:37-40).
What does it mean? The fact is that if a person has truly achieved true love for God and others, he cannot break any of the Ten Commandments, because they all talk about love for God and people. And we must strive for this perfect love.
Let's look at the Ten Commandments of God's Law in order:
1. .
3. .
4. .
5. .
6. Thou shalt not kill .
7. Don't commit adultery .
8. Don't steal .
10. .
This is how they sound in Church Slavonic. In the future, when analyzing each commandment, we will also give their Russian translation.
FIRST COMMANDMENT
I am the Lord your God; let there not be any gods for you, unless Mene .
I am the Lord your God, so that you may have other gods besides Me.
The Lord is the Creator of the universe and the spiritual world and the First Cause of everything that exists. Our entire beautiful, harmonious and incredibly complex world could not have arisen by itself. Behind all this beauty and harmony is the Creative Mind. To believe that everything that exists arose on its own, without God, is nothing short of madness. “The fool said in his heart: “There is no God” ( Ps. 13:1), says the prophet David. God is not only the Creator, but also our Father. He cares and provides for people and everything created by Him; without His care the world would collapse.
God is the Source of all good things and man must strive for Him, for only in God does he receive life. "I am the way and the truth and the life" ( In. 14:6). We need to conform all our actions and actions to the will of God: whether they will be pleasing to God or not. “So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God” ( 1 Cor. 10:31). The main means of communication with God is prayer and the holy sacraments, in which we receive the grace of God, divine energy.
God wants people to glorify Him correctly, that is, Orthodoxy. One of the most harmful modern misconceptions is that all religions and faiths talk about the same thing and equally strive for God, simply pray to Him differently. There can be only one true faith - Orthodox. Holy Scripture tells us: “For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord created the heavens” ( Ps. 95:5). Some pagan cults still practice human sacrifice. How can we say that we praise God equally, since our “God is love” ( 1 John 4:8).
In the book of Acts of the Holy Apostles it is said about Christ: “there is no other name under heaven, given to people by which we should be saved. » ( Acts 4:12). The Holy Apostle John the Theologian says how to distinguish false teaching from true:"The Spirit of God (and the spirit misconceptions) find out this way: everyone the spirit that confesses Jesus Christ as having come in the flesh is from God. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus Christ who has come in the flesh is not from God, but is the spirit of Antichrist" ( 1 John 4:3). For us, faith in Jesus Christ as God and Savior is the main dogma, while other religions generally deny the deity of Christ. Either they consider him one of the many pagan deities, or simply a prophet, or even, God forgive me, a false messiah. So, we can’t have anything in common with them.
So, for us there can be only one God, glorified in the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and we Orthodox Christians cannot have other gods.
Sins against the first commandment are: 1) atheism (denial of God); 2) lack of faith, doubt, superstition, when people mix faith with unbelief or all kinds of signs and other remnants of paganism. Also sinning against the first commandment are those who say: “I have God in my soul,” but do not go to church and do not begin the sacraments, or do so rarely; 3) paganism (polytheism), belief in false gods, Satanism, occultism and esotericism. This also includes magic, witchcraft, healing, extrasensory perception, astrology, fortune telling and turning to people involved in all this for help. 4) false opinions that contradict the Orthodox faith and falling away from the Church into schism, false teachings and sects; 5) renunciation of faith; 6) trust in one’s own strength and in people more than in God. This sin is also associated with lack of faith.
SECOND COMMANDMENT
Thou shalt not make for thyself an idol or any likeness, such as the tree in heaven, and the tree below on earth, and the tree in the waters under the earth: thou shalt not bow down to them, nor serve them.
You shall not make for yourself an idol or any image of anything in heaven above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth; do not worship or serve them.
The second commandment prohibits worshiping a creature instead of the Creator. We know what paganism and idolatry are, this is what the Apostle Paul writes about the pagans: “professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed creatures, and creeping things... They replaced the truth of God lies, and served the creature instead of the Creator" ( Rome. 1:23- 35). The Old Testament people of Israel, to whom these commandments were originally given, were the custodians of faith in the true God. He was surrounded on all sides by pagan peoples and tribes, in order to warn the Jews that in no case should they adopt pagan customs and beliefs; the Lord establishes this commandment. Now there are quite a few pagans and idolaters left, although polytheism and the worship of idols and idols still exist. For example, in India, Africa, South America, some other countries. Even here in Russia, where Christianity has been around for more than 1000 years, some are trying to revive ancient Slavic paganism.
The veneration of holy icons in Orthodoxy cannot in any way be called idolatry. Firstly, we offer prayers of worship not to the icon itself, not to the material from which it is made, but to those who are depicted on it: God, the Mother of God and the saints. Looking at the image, we ascend with our minds to the Prototype. Secondly, sacred images were made back in the Old Testament at the command of God Himself. The Lord commanded Moses to place golden images of Cherubim in the first mobile Old Testament temple, the tabernacle. Already in the first centuries of Christianity, in the Roman catacombs, meeting places of the first Christians, there were wall images of Christ in the form of the Good Shepherd, the Mother of God, with raised hands and other sacred images. All these frescoes were found during excavations.
Although in modern world There are few direct idolaters left; many people create idols for themselves, worship them and make sacrifices. For many, their passions and vices became such idols, requiring constant sacrifices. Passions are ingrained sinful habits, harmful addictions. Some people were captured by them and can no longer do without them, and serve them as their masters, for: “whoever is defeated by someone is his slave” ( 2 Peter 2:19). These idols are passions: 1) gluttony; 2) fornication; 3) love of money, 4) anger; 5) sadness; 6) despondency; 7) vanity; 8) pride.
It is not for nothing that the Apostle Paul compares serving the passions with idolatry: “covetousness...is idolatry” ( Col. 3:5). Serving passion, a person stops thinking about God and serving Him, and he also forgets about love for his neighbors.
Sins against the second commandment also include passionate attachment to any business, when this hobby becomes a passion. Idolatry is also the passionate worship of a person. It is not for nothing that some artists, singers, and athletes in the modern world are called idols.
THIRD COMMANDMENT
You have not taken the name of the Lord your God in vain .
Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
What does it mean to take the name of the Lord in vain? That is, pronounce it not in prayer, not in spiritual conversations, but in idle conversations, as they say, “for the sake of a catchphrase,” or just to connect words, or maybe even as a joke. And it is a very serious sin to pronounce the name of God with the desire to blaspheme God and laugh at Him. Also, a sin against the third commandment is blasphemy, when holy objects become the subject of ridicule and reproach. Failure to fulfill vows made to God and frivolous oaths invoking the name of God are also a violation of this commandment.
The name of God is sacred to us, and it cannot be exchanged in empty, idle speech. Saint Nicholas of Serbia gives a parable about taking the name of the Lord in vain:
One goldsmith sat in his shop at his workbench and, while working, constantly took the name of God in vain: sometimes as an oath, sometimes as a favorite word. A certain pilgrim, returning from holy places, passing by the shop, heard this, and his soul was indignant. Then he called out to the jeweler to go outside. And when the master left, the pilgrim hid. The jeweler, not seeing anyone, returned to the shop and continued working. The pilgrim called out to him again, and when the jeweler came out, he pretended to know nothing. The master, angry, returned to his room and began to work again. The pilgrim called out to him for the third time and, when the master came out again, he stood silently again, pretending that he had nothing to do with it. Then the jeweler furiously attacked the pilgrim:
-Why are you calling me in vain? What a joke! I'm full of work!
The pilgrim answered peacefully:
-Truly, the Lord God has even more work to do, but you call on Him much more often than I call on you. Who has the right to be angry more: you or the Lord God?
The jeweler, ashamed, returned to the workshop and from then on kept his mouth shut.
The word has great meaning and power. God created this world through the Word. “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host” ( Ps. 32, art. 2) God Himself is called the Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word” ( In. 1:1). The Word is God's great gift to people, and it should also serve our salvation and benefit. The one who sins against the third commandment is the one who uses the word idly or pollutes his speech with nasty words: names of the devil, obscene language and other foul language. Not only for bad things, but also “for every idle word that people speak, they will give an answer on the day of judgment” ( Matt. 12:36), says the Savior.The ap. wrote about the “rotten word”. Paul. In the 4th century. St. John Chrysostom says that “Whenever someone swears with obscene words, then at the Throne of the Lord the Mother of God, the prayer cover given by Her, takes away from a person, and She retreats, and whichever person is chosen obscenely, exposes himself to a curse on that day, because he scolds his mother and insults her bitterly. It is not proper for us to eat and drink with that person unless he stops using his swear words.”
FOURTH COMMANDMENT
Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy: you shall do six days, and in them you shall do all your work; but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, shall be to the Lord your God..
Remember the Sabbath day so that you spend it holy: work for six days and do all your work during them, and dedicate the seventh day, the Sabbath, to the Lord your God.
The Lord created this world in six stages - days and completed creation. “And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it; for in it he rested from all His works, which God created and created" ( Life 2:3). This does not mean that God does not care about the created world, but it does mean that God has completed all activities related to creation.
In the Old Testament, Saturday was considered a day of rest (Translated from Hebrewpeace ). In New Testament times, Sunday became the holy day of rest, when the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is remembered. The seventh and most important day for Christians is the day of resurrection, Little Easter, and the custom of honoring Sunday dates back to the times of the holy apostles. On Sunday, Christians abstain from work and go to church to pray to God, thank Him for the past week and ask for a blessing for the work of the coming week. On this day it is very good to receive the Holy Mysteries of Christ. We dedicate Sunday to prayer, spiritual reading, and pious activities. On Sunday, as a day free from ordinary work, you can help your neighbors. Visit the sick, provide assistance to the infirm and elderly.
You can often hear from people who are far from the Church or have little church life that they, they say, do not have time for home prayer and visiting church. Yes, modern people are sometimes very busy, but even busy people still have a lot of free time to talk on the phone with girlfriends, friends and relatives, read magazines, newspapers and novels, sit for hours in front of the TV and computer, and time to pray No. Some people come home at six o’clock in the evening and then lie on the couch watching TV for 5-6 hours, and are too lazy to get up and read a very short evening prayer rule or read the Gospel.
Those people who honor Sundays and church holidays, pray in church and are not lazy to read morning and evening prayers receive much more than those who spend this time in idleness and laziness. The Lord will bless their labors, increase their strength and send them His help.
THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT
Honor your father and your mother, may you be well, and may you live long on earth .
Honor your father and mother, so that you may be well and may live long on earth.
Those who love and honor their parents are promised not only a reward in the Kingdom of Heaven, but even blessings, prosperity and long life in earthly life. Honoring parents means respecting them, showing obedience to them, helping them, taking care of them in old age, praying for their health and salvation, and when they die, praying for the repose of their soul.
People often ask: how can you love and honor parents who do not care about their children, neglect their responsibilities, or fall into serious sins? We don’t choose our parents; it is God’s will that they have these and not some others. Why did God give us such parents? In order for us to show the best Christian qualities: patience, love, humility, learn to forgive.
Through our parents we came into this world, they are the reason for our existence and the very nature of our descent from them teaches us to honor them as people higher than ourselves. Here is what St. John Chrysostom writes about this: “... just as they gave birth to you, you cannot give birth to them. Therefore, if in this we are inferior to them, then we will surpass them in another respect through respect for them, not only according to the law of nature, but mainly before nature, according to (the feeling of) the fear of God. The will of God decisively demands that parents be revered by their children, and rewards those who do this with great blessings and gifts, and punishes those who violate this law with great and grave misfortunes.” By honoring our father and mother, we honor God Himself, our heavenly Father. He, together with our earthly parents, gave us the most precious gift - the gift of life. Parents can be called co-creators, co-workers with the Lord. They gave us a body, we are flesh of their flesh, and God put an immortal soul in us.
If a person does not honor his parents and denies this hierarchy, he can very easily come to disrespect and deny God. At first he does not respect his parents, then he stops loving his homeland, then he denies his mother church, and now he no longer believes in God. All this is very interconnected. It is not without reason that when they want to shake the state, destroy its foundations from within, they first of all take up arms against the church, faith in God, and the family. Family, honoring elders, passing on traditions (and the word tradition comes from the Latin tradition - transmission), cements society, makes the people strong.
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT
Thou shalt not kill .
Dont kill.
Murder, taking the life of another person and suicide, that is, unauthorized death, are among the most serious sins.
Suicide is the most terrible sin. This is rebellion against God, who gave us the precious gift of life. But our life is in the hands of God, we do not have the right to leave it whenever we please. Committing suicide, a person leaves life in a terrible darkness of despair and despondency. He can no longer repent of this sin, nor can he bring repentance for the sin of murder, which he commits against himself; there is no repentance beyond the grave.
A person who takes the life of another through negligence is also guilty of murder, but his guilt is less than that of someone who kills deliberately. The one who facilitated the murder is also guilty of murder. For example, a woman’s husband who did not dissuade her from having an abortion or even contributed to it himself.
People who, through their bad habits and vices and sins, shorten their lives and harm their health, also sin against the sixth commandment.
Any harm caused to one’s neighbor is also a violation of this commandment. Hatred, malice, beatings, mockery, insults, curses, anger, gloating, rancor, ill-will, unforgiveness of offenses - all these are sins against the commandment “thou shalt not kill,” because “everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” ( 1John 3:15), says the Word of God.
In addition to bodily murder, there is an equally terrible murder - spiritual murder, when someone seduces, seduces a neighbor into unbelief or pushes him to commit a sin, and thereby destroys his soul.
Saint Philaret of Moscow writes that “not every taking of life is a criminal murder. Murder is not unlawful when life is taken due to office, such as: 1) when the criminal is punished with death by justice; 2) when they kill the enemy in the war for the Fatherland.”
SEVENTH COMMANDMENT
Don't commit adultery .
Don't commit adultery.
This commandment prohibits sins against the family, adultery, all carnal relations between a man and a woman outside of legal marriage, other carnal sins, as well as prodigal, unclean desires and thoughts.
The Lord established the marriage union and blessed carnal communication in it, which serves childbearing. Husband and wife are no longer two, but “one flesh” ( Life 2, 24). The presence of marriage is another (though not the most important) difference between us and animals. Animals do not have marriage. People have marriage, mutual responsibility, duties to each other and to children.
But what is blessed in marriage is a sin, a violation of the commandment, if done outside of marriage. The marital union unites a man and a woman into “one flesh” ( Eph. 5, 31) for mutual love, birth and raising of children. But the Bible also tells us that in fornication people are also united into “one flesh,” but only in sin and lawlessness. For sinful pleasure and irresponsibility. They become accomplices in a moral crime. “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? So, shall I take away the members of Christ to make them the members of a harlot? It won't happen! Or don’t you know that he who has sex with a harlot becomes one body with her?” ( 1 Cor. 6, 15-16)
The Holy Scripture classifies fornication among the most serious sins: “Do not be deceived: neither fornicators... nor adulterers... will inherit the kingdom of God” ( 1 Cor. 6, 9).
A sin even more serious than fornication is adultery, that is, violation marital fidelity or physical relations with a person who is married.
Cheating destroys not only a marriage, but also the soul of the one who cheats. You can’t build happiness on someone else’s grief. There is a law of spiritual balance: having sowed evil, sin, we will reap evil, and our sin will return to us. Adultery and fornication begin not with the fact of physical intimacy, but much earlier, when a person gives himself permission to dirty thoughts and immodest glances. The Gospel says: anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart" ( Matthew 5:28).Therefore, mental fornication, failure to preserve sight, hearing, shameless conversations, these and other similar sins are a violation of the seventh commandment.
THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT
Don't steal.
Don't steal.
A violation of this commandment is the appropriation of someone else's property, both public and private. Types of theft can be varied: robbery, theft, deception in trade affairs, bribery, bribery, tax evasion, parasitism, sacrilege (that is, misappropriation of church property), all kinds of scams, fraud and fraud. In addition, sins against the eighth commandment include all dishonesty: lies, deception, hypocrisy, flattery, sycophancy, people-pleasing, since in this case people also try to acquire something, for example, the favor of their neighbor, by dishonest, thieves.
“You can’t build a house with stolen goods,” says the Russian proverb, and also “No matter how much string you hang, the end will come.” By profiting from the appropriation of someone else's property, a person will sooner or later pay for it. “God cannot be scolded” ( Gal.6:7) A sin committed, no matter how insignificant it may seem, will certainly return. Evil will definitely find us. One of my friends accidentally hit and scratched the fender of his neighbor's car in the yard. But he didn’t tell him anything and didn’t give him money for repairs. Some time later, in a completely different place, far from home, his own car was also scratched and he fled the scene. Moreover, the blow was delivered to the same wing that he damaged his neighbor.
The basis of theft and theft is the passion of love of money and it fights by acquiring the opposite virtues. The love of money can be of two types: Extravagance (love of a luxurious life) and stinginess, greed. Both require funds that are often acquired dishonestly.
The love of money fights by acquiring the opposite virtues: mercy towards the poor, non-covetousness, hard work, honesty and spiritual life, for attachment to money and other material values always stems from lack of spirituality.
THE NINTH COMMANDMENT
Do not listen to your friend's false testimony.
Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
With this commandment, the Lord prohibits not only direct false testimony against one’s neighbor, for example in court, but also all lies spoken about other people, such as slander, slander, false denunciations. The sin of idle talk, so common everyday for modern man, is also very often associated with sins against the ninth commandment. In idle conversations, gossip, gossip, and sometimes slander and slander are constantly heard. During an idle conversation, it is very easy to “talk too much”, to divulge other people’s secrets and secrets entrusted to you, to let down and set up your neighbor. “My tongue is my enemy,” people say, and indeed, our language can bring great benefit to us and our neighbors, or it can do great harm. The Apostle James says that with our tongue we sometimes “bless God the Father, and with it we curse men, created in the likeness of God” ( James 3:9). We sin against the ninth commandment when we not only tell lies and slander our neighbor, but also when we agree with what others say, thereby participating in the sin of condemnation.
"Judge not lest ye be judged" ( Matt. 7:1), - warns the Savior. To condemn means to judge, to anticipate the judgment of God, to usurp His rights (this is also terrible pride!) for only the Lord, who knows the past, present and future of a person, can judge him. Rev. John of Savvaitsky says the following: “Once a monk from a neighboring monastery came to me, and I asked him how the fathers lived. He answered: “Okay, according to your prayers.” Then I asked about the monk who did not enjoy good fame, and the guest told me: “He has not changed at all, father!” Hearing this, I exclaimed: “Bad!” And as soon as I said this, I immediately felt as if in delight and saw Jesus Christ crucified between two thieves. I was rushing to worship the Savior, when suddenly He turned to the approaching Angels and said to them: “Take him out, - this is the Antichrist, for he condemned his brother before My Judgment.” And when, according to the word of the Lord, I was driven out, my robe was left at the door, and then I woke up. “Woe is me,” I then said to the brother who came, “I am angry this day!” "Why is that?" - he asked. Then I told him about the vision and noticed that the mantle I left behind meant that I was deprived of God’s protection and help. And from that time I spent seven years wandering through the deserts, not eating bread, not going under shelter, not talking to people, until I saw my Lord, who returned my mantle.”
That's how scary it is to make a judgment about a person.
THE TENTH COMMANDMENT
Thou shalt not covet thy true wife, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, nor his village, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor any of his livestock, nor anything that is thy neighbor's..
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, and thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, nor his field, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant... nor anything that belongs to thy neighbor.
This commandment prohibits envy and grumbling. You can’t not only do bad things to people, but even have sinful, envious thoughts against them. Any sin begins with a thought, with a thought about it. At first, a person begins to envy the money and property of his neighbors, then the thought arises in his heart to steal this property from his brother, and soon he puts his sinful dreams into action. Adultery, as is well known, begins with immodest views and envious thoughts regarding one's neighbor's wife. It must also be said that envy of wealth, property, talents, and the health of our neighbors kills our love for them; envy eats away at the soul like acid. It is no longer pleasant for us to communicate with them, we cannot share their joy with them; on the contrary, an envious person is very pleased by the sudden sorrow and grief that befalls those whom he envied. This is why the sin of envy is so dangerous; it is the beginning, the seed of other sins. An envious person also sins against God, he does not want to be content with what the Lord sends him, it is always not enough for him, he blames his neighbors and God for all his troubles. Such a person will never be happy and satisfied with life, because happiness is not some sum of earthly goods, but the state of a person’s soul. “The Kingdom of God is within you” ( OK. 17:21). It begins here on earth, with the correct structure of the soul. The ability to see the gifts of God in every day of your life, to appreciate them and thank God for them is the key to human happiness.
GOSPEL COMMANDMENTS OF THE HAPPINESS
We have already said that God gave people the Ten Commandments back in Old Testament times. They were given in order to protect people from evil, to warn about the danger that sin brings. The Lord Jesus Christ established the New Testament, gave us the New Gospel Law, the basis of which is love: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another” ( In. 13:34), and holiness: “be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” ( Matt. 5:48). However, the Savior did not at all abolish the observance of the Ten Commandments, but showed people a completely new level of spiritual life. In the Sermon on the Mount, talking about how a Christian should build his life, the Savior, among other things, gives nineBeatitudes . These commandments no longer speak of the prohibition of sin, but of Christian perfection. They tell how to achieve bliss, what virtues bring a person closer to God, for only in Him can a person find true bliss. The Beatitudes not only do not cancel the ten commandments of the Law of God, but very wisely complement them. It is not enough simply not to commit a sin, or to expel it from our soul by repenting of it. No, we need our soul to be filled with virtues that are opposite to sins. "A holy place is never empty". It is not enough not to do evil, you must do good. Sins create a wall between us and God; when the wall is destroyed, we begin to see God, but only a moral Christian life can bring us closer to Him.
Here are the nine commandments that the Savior gave us as a guide to Christian deed:
- Blessed are the poor in spirit, for to them is the Kingdom of Heaven
- Blessed are those who cry, for they will be comforted
- Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth
- Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied
- Blessed be the mercy, for there will be mercy
- Blessed are those who are pure in heart, for they will see God
- Blessed are the peacemakers, for these shall be called sons of God
- Blessed is the expulsion of truth for the sake of them, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs
- Blessed are you, when they revile you, and despise you, and say all sorts of evil things against you lying, For my sake: Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is many in heaven.
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT OF HAPPINESS
What does it mean to be "poor in spirit" and why are such people"blessed"? In order to understand this, you need to use the image of an ordinary beggar. We have all seen and know people who have reached extreme levels of poverty and destitution. Among them, of course, there are different people and we will not now consider their moral qualities, no, we need the lives of these unfortunates as a kind of image. Every beggar understands perfectly well that he stands on the last rung of the social ladder, that all other people are materially much higher than him. And he wanders around in rags, often without his own corner, and begs for alms in order to somehow support his life. While a beggar communicates with poor people like him, he may not notice his situation, but when he sees a rich, wealthy person, he immediately feels the misery of his own situation.
Spiritual poverty meanshumility, V And realizing your true state. Just as an ordinary beggar has nothing of his own, but dresses in what is given and eats alms, we must also realize that everything we have we receive from God. This is not ours, we are only clerks, stewards of the estate that the Lord gave us. He gave it so that it would serve the salvation of our soul. You can by no means be a poor person, but be “poor in spirit,” humbly accept what God gives us and use it to serve the Lord and people. Everything is from God, not only material wealth, but also health, talents, abilities, life itself - all this is exclusively a gift from God, for which we must thank Him. « Without Me you cannot do anything" ( In. 15.5), the Lord tells us. Both the fight against sins and the acquisition of good deeds are impossible without humility; we do all this only with the help of God.
To the poor in spirit, to the humble in wisdom, it is promised"Kingdom of heaven" . People who know that everything they have is not their merit, but the gift of God, which needs to be increased for the salvation of the soul, will perceive everything sent to them as a means of achieving the Kingdom of Heaven.
THE SECOND COMMANDMENT OF HAPPINESS
« Blessed are those who mourn." Crying can be caused by completely different reasons, but not all crying is a virtue. The commandment to mourn means repentant crying for one’s sins. Repentance is so important because without it it is impossible to get closer to God. Sins prevent us from doing this. The first commandment and humility already leads us to repentance, lays the foundation for spiritual life, for only a person who feels his weakness, poverty before the Heavenly Father can realize his sins and repent of them. And like the gospel prodigal son returns to the Father’s house, and, of course, the Lord will accept everyone who comes to Him, and will wipe away every tear fromand of course the Lord accepts everyone who comes to him and wipes away everyone who feels his weakness, poverty before the Holy his eyes. Therefore: “blessed are those who mourn (for sins),for they will be comforted.” Every person has sins, only God alone is without sin, but we have been given the greatest gift from God - repentance, the opportunity to return to God and ask for forgiveness from Him. It was not for nothing that the Holy Fathers called repentance the second baptism, where we wash away our sins not with water, but with tears.
Blessed tears can also be called tears of compassion, empathy for our neighbors, when we are imbued with their grief and try to help them as much as we can.
THE THIRD COMMANDMENT OF HAPPINESS
"Blessed are the meek." Meekness is a peaceful, calm, quiet spirit that a person has acquired in his heart. This is submission to the will of God and the virtue of peace in the soul and peace with others. “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me: for I am meek and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" ( Matthew 11: 29,30), the Savior teaches us. He was submissive in everything to the will of the Heavenly Father, He served people and accepted suffering with meekness. He who has taken upon himself the good yoke of Christ, who follows His path, who seeks humility, meekness, and love, will find peace and tranquility for his soul both in this earthly life and in the life of the next century, for the meek"inherit the earth" first of all, not material, but spiritual, in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Great Russian saint, Venerable Seraphim Sarovsky said: “Acquire a peaceful spirit and thousands around you will be saved.” He himself fully acquired this meek spirit, greeting everyone who came to him with the words: “My joy, Christ is risen!” There is an episode from his life when robbers came to his forest cell, wanting to rob the elder, thinking that the visitors were bringing him a lot of money. Saint Seraphim was chopping wood in the forest at that time and stood with an ax in his hands. But, having weapons and himself possessing a large physical strength he did not want to resist them. He placed the ax on the ground and folded his arms across his chest. The villains grabbed an ax and brutally beat the old man with its butt, breaking his head and breaking his bones. Not finding any money, they fled. The monk was barely able to get to the monastery; he was ill for a long time and remained bent over until the end of his days. When the robbers were caught, he not only forgave them, but also asked to be released, saying that if this was not done, he would leave the monastery. What amazing meekness this man was.
The fact that “the meek will inherit the earth” is true not only on a spiritual level, but even on an earthly level. Meek and humble Christians, without war, fire or sword, despite terrible persecution from the pagans, were able to convert the entire vast Roman Empire to the true faith.
THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT OF HAPPINESS
There are different ways to thirst and seek the truth. There are certain people who can be called “truth-seekers”; they are constantly indignant at the existing order, seek justice everywhere and complain to higher authorities. But this commandment is not talking about them. This means a completely different truth.
It is said that one must desire truth as food and drink: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” That is, very much, like a hungry and thirsty person, he endures suffering until his needs are satisfied. What kind of truth is being said here? About the Supreme Divine Truth. AThe highest truth , truth is Christ . "I am the way and the truth" ( In. 14, 6), - He says about Himself. Therefore, a Christian must seek the true meaning of life in God. In Him alone is the True Source of Living Water and Divine Bread, which is His Body.
The Lord left us the Word of God, which sets out the Divine teaching, the truth of God, He created the Church and put into it everything necessary for salvation. The Church is also the bearer of truth and correct knowledge about God, the world and man. This is the truth that every Christian should thirst for, reading the Holy Scriptures and being edified by the works of the Fathers of the Church.
Those who are zealous about prayer, about doing good deeds, about saturating themselves with the Word of God, truly “thirst for righteousness,” and, of course, will receive saturation from the ever-flowing Source of our Savior both in this century and in the future.
THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT OF HAPPINESS
Mercy, mercy – these are acts of love towards others. In these virtues we imitate God Himself: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” ( OK. 6:36). God sends His mercies and gifts to both righteous and unrighteous, sinful people. He rejoices over “one sinner who repents, rather than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance” ( Luke 15:7).
And he teaches us all the same selfless love, so that we do acts of mercy not for the sake of reward, not expecting to receive something in return, but out of love for the person himself, fulfilling the commandment of God.
By doing good deeds to people, as creation, the image of God, we thereby bring service to God Himself. The Gospel describes the Last Judgment of God, when the Lord will separate the righteous from the sinners and say to the righteous: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you accepted Me; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.” Then the righteous will answer Him: “Lord! when did we see you hungry and feed you? or to the thirsty and gave them something to drink? when did we see you as a stranger and accept you? or naked and clothed? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You?” And the King will answer them: “Truly I say to you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it to Me” ( Matthew 25: 34-40). Therefore it is said that"merciful" themselves “They will have mercy.” And on the contrary, those who did not do good deeds will have nothing to justify themselves at the judgment of God, as stated in the same parable about the Last Judgment.
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT OF HAPPINESS
"Blessed are the pure in heart" , that is, pure in soul and mind from sinful thoughts and desires. It is important not only to avoid committing a sin in a visible way, but also to refrain from thinking about it, because any sin begins with a thought, and only then materializes into action. “From the heart of man come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, blasphemy” ( Matthew 15:19), says the Word of God. And the Lord also says: “...everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart” ( Matt. 5:28). Not only bodily impurity is a sin, but also impurity of the soul, spiritual defilement. You can be a virgin in body, but commit terrible debauchery in your mind. A person may not take anyone’s life, but burn with hatred for people and wish them death. Thus, he will destroy his own soul, and subsequently, he may even go as far as murder. Therefore, the Apostle John the Theologian warns: “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer ( 1 John 3:15). A person who has an unclean soul and unclean thoughts is a potential committer of later visible sins.
“If your eye is pure, your whole body will be bright; if your eye is evil, then your whole body will be dark" ( Matt. 6:22.23). These words of Christ are spoken about the purity of the heart and soul. A clear eye is sincerity, purity, holiness of thoughts and intentions, and these intentions lead to good deeds. And vice versa: where the eye and heart are blinded, dark thoughts reign, which will later become dark deeds. Only a person with a pure soul and pure thoughts can approach God,see His. God is seen not with bodily eyes, but with the spiritual vision of a pure soul and heart. If this organ of spiritual vision is clouded, spoiled by sin, the Lord cannot be seen. Therefore, you need to refrain from unclean, sinful, evil and sad thoughts, drive them away as if they were all from the enemy, and cultivate in your soul, cultivate others - bright, kind ones. These thoughts are cultivated by prayer, faith and hope in God, love for Him, for people and for every creation of God.
THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT OF HAPPINESS
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” The commandment of peace with people and reconciliation of warring people is placed very highly; such people are called children, sons of the Lord. Why? We are all children of God, his creations. There is nothing more pleasant for any parent when he knows that his children live in peace, love and harmony among themselves: “How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together!” ( Ps. 132:1). And vice versa, how sad it is for a father and mother to see quarrels, strife and enmity between children; at the sight of all this, the parents’ hearts seem to bleed! If the world and a good relationship between children they bring joy even to earthly parents, especially since our Heavenly Father needs us to live in peace. And a person who maintains peace in the family, with people, and reconciles those at war is pleasing and pleasing to God. Not only does such a person receive joy, tranquility, happiness and blessing from God here on earth, gaining peace in his soul and peace with his neighbors, he will undoubtedly receive a reward in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Peacemakers will also be called “sons of God” because in their feat they are likened to the Son of God Himself, Christ the Savior, who reconciled people with God, restored the connection that was destroyed by sins and the falling away of humanity from God.
THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT OF HAPPINESS
"Blessed are those who are exiled for righteousness' sake." The search for Truth, Divine truth, has already been discussed in the fourth commandment of beatitude. We remember that Truth is Christ Himself. He is also called the Sun of Truth. It is about oppression and persecution for the truth of God that this commandment speaks of. The path of a Christian is always the path of a warrior of Christ. The path is complex, difficult, narrow “strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life” ( Matt. 7:14). But this is the only road leading to salvation; we are not given any other way. Of course, living in this raging world, often very hostile to Christianity, is difficult. Even if there is no persecution or oppression for faith, simply living like a Christian, fulfilling God’s commandments, working for God and others is very difficult. It is much easier to live “like everyone else” and “take everything from life.” But we know that it is precisely this path that leads to destruction: “Wide is the gate and wide is the way that leads to destruction ( Matt. 7:13). And the fact that so many people are following in this direction should not confuse us. A Christian is always different, not like everyone else. “Try to live not “as everyone else lives,” but as God commands, because “the world lies in evil,” says St. Barsanuphius of Optina. It doesn’t matter if we are persecuted and reviled here on earth for our life and faith, because our fatherland is not on earth, but in heaven, with God. Therefore, to those persecuted for the sake of righteousness, the Lord promises in this commandment"Kingdom of heaven".
THE NINTH COMMANDMENT OF HAPPINESS
A continuation of the eighth commandment, which speaks of oppression for the Truth of God and Christian life, is the last commandment of beatitude, which speaks of persecution for the faith. "Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven.”
Here it is said about the highest manifestation of love for God - about the readiness to give one’s life for Christ, for one’s faith in Him. This feat is calledmartyrdom. This path is higher and has a higher"great reward" This path was indicated by the Savior Himself; He endured persecution, torment, cruel torture and painful death, thereby giving an example to all His followers and strengthening them in their readiness to suffer for Him, even to the point of blood and death, as He once suffered for all of us.
We know that the Church stands on the blood and perseverance of the martyrs; they defeated the pagan, hostile world, giving their lives and laying them at the foundation of the Church. The 3rd century Christian teacher Tertullian said: “The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christianity.” Just as a seed falls into the ground and dies, but its death is not in vain, it produces fruit several times greater, so the apostles and martyrs, having given their lives, were the seed from which it grew Universal Church. And at the beginning of the 4th century, the pagan empire was defeated by Christianity without force of arms and any coercion and became Orthodox.
But the enemy of the human race does not calm down and constantly initiates new persecutions against Christians. And when the Antichrist comes to power, he will also persecute and persecute the disciples of Christ. Therefore, every Christian must be constantly ready for the feat of confession and martyrdom.
People who are far from the Church and have no experience of spiritual life often see in Christianity only prohibitions and restrictions. This is a very primitive view.
In Orthodoxy everything is harmonious and natural. The spiritual world, as well as the physical world, has its own laws, which, like the laws of nature, cannot be violated; this will lead to great damage and even disaster. Both physical and spiritual laws are given by God Himself. We constantly encounter warnings, restrictions and prohibitions in our daily lives, and not a single normal person would say that all these regulations are unnecessary and unreasonable. The laws of physics contain many dire warnings, as do the laws of chemistry. There is a well-known school saying: “First water, then acid, otherwise big trouble will happen!” We go to work - they have their own safety rules, you need to know and follow them. When we go outside, get behind the wheel, we must follow the rules. traffic, in which there are a lot of prohibitions. And so it is everywhere, in every area of life.
Freedom is not permissiveness, but the right to choose: a person can make the wrong choice and suffer greatly. The Lord gives us great freedom, but at the same time warns of dangers on the path of life. As the Apostle Paul says: Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial(1 Cor 10:23). If a person ignores spiritual laws, lives as he wants, regardless of moral standards or the people around him, he loses his freedom, damages his soul and causes great harm to himself and others. Sin is a violation of very subtle and strict laws of spiritual nature; it primarily harms the sinner himself.
God wants people to be happy, to love Him, to love each other and not to harm themselves and others, therefore He gave us commandments. They express spiritual laws, they teach how to live and build relationships with God and people. Just as parents warn their children about danger and teach them about life, so our Heavenly Father gives us the necessary instructions. The commandments were given to people back in the Old Testament, we talked about this in the section on Old Testament biblical history. New Testament people, Christians, are required to keep the Ten Commandments. Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill(Mt 5:17) says the Lord Jesus Christ.
The main law of the spiritual world is the law of love for God and people.
All ten commandments say this. They were given to Moses in the form of two stone slabs - tablets, on one of which the first four commandments were written, speaking about love for the Lord, and on the second - the remaining six. They talk about attitude towards neighbors. When our Lord Jesus Christ was asked: What is the greatest commandment in the law?- He replied: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind: this is the first and greatest commandment; the second is similar to it: love your neighbor as yourself; on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets(Mt 22:36-40).
What does it mean? The fact is that if a person has truly achieved true love for God and others, he cannot break any of the Ten Commandments, because they all talk about love for God and people. And we must strive for this perfect love.
Let's consider ten commandments of God's law:
- I am the Lord your God; Let you have no other gods before Me.
- You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth below, or that is in the water under the earth; do not worship them or serve them.
- Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; Six days you shall work and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.
- Honor your father and your mother, so that your days on earth may be long.
- Dont kill.
- Don't commit adultery.
- Don't steal.
- Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
- Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.
First commandment
I am the Lord your God; Let you have no other gods before Me.
The Lord is the Creator of the Universe and the spiritual world. He is the First Cause of everything that exists. Our entire beautiful, harmonious and very complex world could not have arisen by itself. Behind all this beauty and harmony is the Creative Mind. To believe that everything that exists arose on its own, without God, is nothing less than madness. The madman said in his heart: “There is no God”(Ps 13:1), says the prophet David. God is not only the Creator, but also our Father. He cares and provides for people and everything created by Him; without His care the world could not exist.
God is the Source of all good things, and man must strive for Him, for only in God does he receive life. We need to conform all our actions and actions to the will of God: whether they will be pleasing to God or not. So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). The main means of communication with God are prayer and the Holy Sacraments, in which we receive the grace of God, Divine energy.
Let us repeat: God wants people to glorify Him correctly, that is, Orthodoxy.
For us there can be only one God, glorified in the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and we, Orthodox Christians, cannot have other gods.
Sins against the first commandment are:
- atheism (denial of God);
- lack of faith, doubt, superstition, when people mix faith with unbelief or all kinds of signs and other remnants of paganism; those who say: “I have God in my soul” also sin against the first commandment, but do not go to church and do not approach the Sacraments or do so rarely;
- paganism (polytheism), belief in false gods, Satanism, occultism and esotericism; this includes magic, witchcraft, healing, extrasensory perception, astrology, fortune telling and turning to people involved in all this for help;
- false opinions contrary to the Orthodox faith, and falling away from the Church into schism, false teachings and sects;
- renunciation of faith, relying on one’s own strength and on people more than on God; this sin is also associated with lack of faith.
Second Commandment
You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth below, or that is in the water under the earth; do not worship them or serve them.
The second commandment prohibits worshiping a creature instead of the Creator. We know what paganism and idolatry are. This is what the Apostle Paul writes about the pagans: calling themselves wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image similar to corruptible man, and birds, and four-legged creatures, and reptiles... They replaced the truth of God with a lie... and served the creature instead of the Creator(Rom 1, 22-23, 25). The Old Testament people of Israel, to whom these commandments were originally given, were the custodians of faith in the True God. It was surrounded on all sides by pagan peoples and tribes, and in order to warn the Jews not to adopt pagan customs and beliefs under any circumstances, the Lord establishes this commandment. Nowadays there are few pagans and idolaters among us, although polytheism and the worship of idols exist, for example, in India, Africa, South America, and some other countries. Even here in Russia, where Christianity has been around for over a thousand years, some are trying to revive paganism.
Sometimes you can hear accusations against the Orthodox: they say, veneration of icons is idolatry. The veneration of holy icons cannot in any way be called idolatry. Firstly, we offer prayers of worship not to the icon itself, but to the Person who is depicted on the icon - God. Looking at the image, we ascend with our minds to the Prototype. Also, through the icon, we ascend in mind and heart to the Mother of God and the saints.
Sacred images were made back in the Old Testament at the command of God Himself. The Lord commanded Moses to place golden images of Cherubim in the first mobile Old Testament temple (tabernacle). Already in the first centuries of Christianity, in the Roman catacombs (meeting places of the first Christians) there were wall images of Christ in the form of the Good Shepherd, the Mother of God with raised hands and other sacred images. All these frescoes were found during excavations.
Although there are few direct idolaters left in the modern world, many people create idols for themselves, worship them and make sacrifices. For many, their passions and vices became such idols, requiring constant sacrifices. Some people have been captured by them and can no longer do without them; they serve them as if they were their masters, because: whoever is defeated by someone is his slave(2 Pet 2:19). Let us recall these idols of passion: gluttony, fornication, love of money, anger, sadness, despondency, vanity, pride. The Apostle Paul compares serving the passions with idolatry: covetousness... is idolatry(Col 3:5). Indulging in passion, a person stops thinking about God and serving Him. He also forgets about love for his neighbors.
Sins against the second commandment also include passionate attachment to any business, when this hobby becomes a passion. Idolatry is also the worship of any person. Many people in modern society treat popular artists, singers, and athletes as idols.
Third Commandment
Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
To take the name of God in vain means in vain, that is, not in prayer, not in spiritual conversations, but during idle conversations or out of habit. It is an even greater sin to pronounce the name of God in jest. And it is a very serious sin to pronounce the name of God with the desire to blaspheme God. Also a sin against the third commandment is blasphemy, when holy objects become the subject of ridicule and reproach. Failure to fulfill vows made to God and frivolous oaths invoking the name of God are also violations of this commandment.
The name of God is holy. It must be treated with reverence.
Saint Nicholas of Serbia. Parable
One goldsmith sat in his shop at his workbench and, while working, constantly took the name of God in vain: sometimes as an oath, sometimes as a favorite word. A certain pilgrim, returning from holy places, passing by the shop, heard this, and his soul was indignant. Then he called out to the jeweler to go outside. And when the master left, the pilgrim hid. The jeweler, not seeing anyone, returned to the shop and continued working. The pilgrim called out to him again, and when the jeweler came out, he pretended to know nothing. The master, angry, returned to his room and began to work again. The pilgrim called out to him for the third time and, when the master came out again, he stood silently again, pretending that he had nothing to do with it. The jeweler furiously attacked the pilgrim:
- Why are you calling me in vain? What a joke! I'm full of work!
The pilgrim answered peacefully:
“Truly, the Lord God has even more work to do, but you call on Him much more often than I call on you.” Who has the right to be angry more: you or the Lord God?
The jeweler, ashamed, returned to the workshop and from then on kept his mouth shut.
Fourth Commandment
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; Six days you shall work and do all your work, and the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.
The Lord created this world in six days and, having completed creation, blessed the seventh day as a day of rest: consecrated it; for in it he rested from all His works, which God created and created(Genesis 2, 3).
In the Old Testament, the day of rest was the Sabbath. In New Testament times, the holy day of rest became Sunday, when the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead is remembered. This day is the seventh and most important day for Christians. Sunday is also called Little Easter. The custom of honoring Sunday comes from the times of the holy apostles. On Sunday, Christians must attend the Divine Liturgy. On this day it is very good to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. We dedicate Sunday to prayer, spiritual reading, and pious activities. On Sunday, as a day free from ordinary work, you can help your neighbors or visit the sick, provide assistance to the infirm and elderly. It is customary on this day to thank God for the past week and prayerfully ask for blessings on the work of the coming week.
You can often hear from people who are far from the Church or have little church life that they do not have time for home prayer and visiting church. Yes, modern people are sometimes very busy, but even busy people still have a lot of free time to often and for a long time talk on the phone with friends and relatives, read newspapers, and sit for hours in front of the TV and computer. Spending their evenings like this, they do not want to devote even a very short time to the evening prayer rule and read the Gospel.
People who honor Sundays and church holidays, pray in church, and regularly read morning and evening prayers, as a rule, manage to do much more than those who spend this time in idleness. The Lord blesses their labors, increases their strength and gives them His help.
Fifth Commandment
Honor your father and your mother, so that your days on earth may be long.
Those who love and honor their parents are promised not only a reward in the Kingdom of Heaven, but even blessings, prosperity and many years in earthly life. To honor parents means to respect them, to show obedience to them, to help them, to take care of them in old age, to pray for their health and salvation, and after their death - for the repose of their souls.
People often ask: how can you love and honor parents who do not care for their children, neglect their responsibilities, or fall into serious sins? We don’t choose our parents; the fact that we have them like this and not some others is God’s will. Why did God give us such parents? In order for us to show the best Christian qualities: patience, love, humility, the ability to forgive.
Through our parents, God gave us life. Thus, no amount of caring for our parents can compare with what we received from them. Here is what St. John Chrysostom writes about this: “Just as they gave birth to you, you cannot give birth to them. Therefore, if in this we are inferior to them, then we will surpass them in another respect through respect for them, not only according to the law of nature, but also primarily before nature, according to the feeling of the fear of God. The will of God decisively demands that parents be revered by their children, and rewards those who do this with great blessings and gifts, and punishes those who violate this law with great and grave misfortunes.” By honoring our father and mother, we learn to honor God Himself, our Heavenly Father. Parents can be called co-workers with the Lord. They gave us a body, and God put an immortal soul in us.
If a person does not honor his parents, he can very easily come to disrespect and deny God. At first he does not respect his parents, then he stops loving his Motherland, then he denies his mother Church and gradually comes to denying God. All this is interconnected. It is not without reason that when they want to shake the state, to destroy its foundations from within, they first of all take up arms against the Church - faith in God - and the family. Family, respect for elders, customs and traditions (translated from Latin - broadcast) hold society together and make people strong.
Sixth Commandment
Dont kill.
Murder, taking the life of another person, and suicide are among the most serious sins.
Suicide is a terrible spiritual crime. This is rebellion against God, who gave us the precious gift of life. Committing suicide, a person leaves life in a terrible darkness of spirit, mind, in a state of despair and despondency. He can no longer repent of this sin; there is no repentance beyond the grave.
A person who takes the life of another through negligence is also guilty of murder, but his guilt is less than that of one who deliberately encroaches on the life of another. Also guilty of murder is the one who contributed to this: for example, a husband who did not dissuade his wife from having an abortion or even contributed to it himself.
People who shorten their lives and harm their health through bad habits, vices and sins also sin against the sixth commandment.
Any harm caused to one's neighbor is also a violation of this commandment. Hatred, malice, beatings, bullying, insults, curses, anger, gloating, rancor, malice, unforgiveness of insults - all these are sins against the commandment “thou shalt not kill”, because everyone who hates his brother is a murderer(1 John 3:15), says the word of God.
In addition to physical murder, there is an equally terrible murder - spiritual, when someone seduces, seduces a neighbor into unbelief or pushes him to commit a sin and thereby destroys his soul.
Saint Philaret of Moscow writes that “not every taking of life is a criminal murder. Murder is not unlawful when life is taken by office, such as: when a criminal is punished with death by justice; when they kill the enemy in the war for the Fatherland.”
Seventh Commandment
Don't commit adultery.
This commandment prohibits sins against the family, adultery, all carnal relations between a man and a woman outside of legal marriage, carnal perversions, as well as unclean desires and thoughts.
The Lord established the marriage union and blessed carnal communication in it, which serves childbearing. Husband and wife are no longer two, but one flesh(Genesis 2:24). The presence of marriage is another (though not the most important) difference between us and animals. Animals do not have marriage. People have marriage, mutual responsibility, duties to each other and to children.
What is blessed in marriage, outside of marriage is a sin, a violation of the commandment. The conjugal union unites a man and a woman in one flesh for mutual love, birth and education of children. Any attempt to steal the joys of marriage without mutual trust and the responsibility that a marriage implies is a serious sin, which, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture, deprives a person of the Kingdom of God (see: 1 Cor 6:9).
An even more serious sin is the violation of marital fidelity or the destruction of someone else's marriage. Cheating not only destroys a marriage, but also defiles the soul of the one who cheats. You can’t build happiness on someone else’s grief. There is a law of spiritual balance: having sowed evil, sin, we will reap evil, and our sin will return to us. Shameless talking and failure to guard one's feelings are also violations of the seventh commandment.
Eighth Commandment
Don't steal.
A violation of this commandment is the appropriation of someone else's property - both public and private. Types of theft can be varied: robbery, theft, deception in trade matters, bribery, bribery, tax evasion, parasitism, sacrilege (that is, appropriation of church property), all kinds of scams, fraud and fraud. In addition, sins against the eighth commandment include all dishonesty: lies, deception, hypocrisy, flattery, sycophancy, people-pleasing, since by doing this people are trying to acquire something (for example, the favor of their neighbor) dishonestly.
“You can’t build a house with stolen goods,” says a Russian proverb. And again: “No matter how tight the rope is, the end will come.” By profiting from the appropriation of someone else's property, a person will sooner or later pay for it. A sin committed, no matter how insignificant it may seem, is sure to return. A man familiar to the authors of this book accidentally hit and scratched the fender of his neighbor's car in the yard. But he didn’t tell him anything and didn’t compensate him for the damage. After some time, in a completely different place, far from his home, his own car was also scratched and they fled the scene. The blow was struck on the same wing that he damaged his neighbor.
The passion of love of money leads to violation of the commandment “Thou shalt not steal.” It was she who led Judas to betrayal. The Evangelist John directly calls him a thief (see: John 12:6).
The passion of covetousness is overcome by cultivating non-covetousness, charity towards the poor, hard work, honesty and growth in spiritual life, for attachment to money and other material values always stems from lack of spirituality.
Ninth Commandment
Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
With this commandment, the Lord prohibits not only direct false testimony against one’s neighbor, for example in court, but also all lies spoken about other people, such as slander, false denunciations. The sin of idle talk, so common and everyday for modern man, is also very often associated with sins against the ninth commandment. In idle conversations, gossip, gossip, and sometimes slander and slander are constantly born. During an idle conversation, it is very easy to say unnecessary things, to divulge other people’s secrets and secrets entrusted to you, and to put your neighbor in a difficult position. “My tongue is my enemy,” people say, and indeed our language can bring great benefit to us and our neighbors, or it can do great harm. The Apostle James says that with our tongues we sometimes we bless God and the Father, and with it we curse men, created in the likeness of God(James 3:9). We sin against the ninth commandment not only when we slander our neighbor, but also when we agree with what others say, thereby participating in the sin of condemnation.
Judge not lest ye be judged(Matthew 7:1), the Savior warns. To condemn means to judge, to boldly admire a right that belongs only to God. Only the Lord, who knows the past, present and future of man, can judge His creation.
Story St. John Savvaitsky
One day a monk from a neighboring monastery came to me, and I asked him how the fathers lived. He answered: “Okay, according to your prayers.” Then I asked about the monk who did not enjoy good fame, and the guest told me: “He has not changed at all, father!” Hearing this, I exclaimed: “Bad!” And as soon as I said this, I immediately felt as if in delight and saw Jesus Christ crucified between two thieves. I was about to worship the Savior, when suddenly He turned to the approaching Angels and said to them: “Cast him out, - this is the Antichrist, for he condemned his brother before My Judgment.” And when, according to the word of the Lord, I was driven out, my robe was left at the door, and then I woke up. “Woe is me,” I then said to the brother who came, “I am angry this day!” "Why is that?" - he asked. Then I told him about the vision and noticed that the mantle I left behind meant that I was deprived of God’s protection and help. And from that time I spent seven years wandering through the deserts, not eating bread, not going under shelter, not talking to people, until I saw my Lord, who returned my mantle to me.
That's how scary it is to make a judgment about a person.
Tenth Commandment
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.
This commandment prohibits envy and grumbling. It is impossible not only to do evil to people, but even to have sinful, envious thoughts against them. Any sin begins with a thought, with a thought about something. A person begins to envy the property and money of his neighbors, then the thought arises in his heart to steal this property from his brother, and soon he puts sinful dreams into action.
Envy of the wealth, talents, and health of our neighbors kills our love for them; envy, like acid, eats away at the soul. An envious person has difficulty communicating with others. He is delighted by the sorrow and grief that befell those whom he envied. This is why the sin of envy is so dangerous: it is the seed of other sins. An envious person also sins against God, he does not want to be content with what the Lord sends him, he blames his neighbors and God for all his troubles. Such a person will never be happy and satisfied with life, because happiness depends not on earthly goods, but on the state of a person’s soul. The kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21). It begins here on earth, with the correct spiritual structure of man. The ability to see the gifts of God in every day of your life, to appreciate them and thank God for them is the key to human happiness.