The first three commandments are always easy - I'm guilty. I fall short of loving and trusting the Lord. I fall short in praying and meditating on God's Word.
But then I get to the next three commandments:
- Respect and obey those people in charge.
- Don't murder and don't hate.
- Don't commit adultery, meaning love my spouse.
These commandments deal with sins against other people, and my confession often sounds like this:
Help me to honor and obey my leaders and to pray for them, in spite of their lack of integrity.
Forgive me for being angry at this person who is clearly acting in a self-serving manner.
Forgive me for not loving my husband as I should, and help me to overlook his sins.Notice what I did?
I justified myself by blaming other people, other sinners, for my failure to obey God's commandments, my failure to love and forgive my neighbor.
And I mostly do this without even realizing it.
But the Lord never lets me get away with this type of behavior, this type of confession, because next comes the Seventh and Eighth Commandments.
"You shall not steal" and "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor."
In other words:
- Don't be lazy; don't waste time or resources.
- Don't talk about people who are annoying.
Guilty and guilty.
With those two commandments I know I'm in the same boat with those who rule over me, with people who get under my skin, and even with my family members.
We're all sinners in need of forgiveness.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:10–11
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8
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