Ten Core Values for the Christian life (10)

And so, we have come to the end of this blog series, the tenth commandment: You shall not covet (Exodus 20:17).

The full text says: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's."

Let's make this simple: You shall not desire anything that isn't yours to begin with.

Maybe you're thinking: “Oh, I don’t envy my neighbor, his house, car, or wife. I don’t desire what someone else has.” But come to think of it, what do you desire? What are the desires of your heart? Are you passionate about the right things?

I believe the message behind the last commandment is both bold and obvious and of great value for today: ➤Don’t be envious of what others have, go after what God has for you!

The Bible says that nothing we desire can compare with wisdom, which is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing we can ever desire can compare with wisdom. Isn't that the very thing we should go after then?

👉The core value I have attached to the tenth commandment is WISDOM.

We do not desire the things of this world but seek spiritual virtues such as wisdom.

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For more on this topic, read my book 'MY NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE' (Digging deeper to find the treasure that will satisfy the longing of your heart). This book is available on Amazon in your country.

Ten Core Values for the Christian life (9)

We are nearing the end of this blog series.

In the introduction I wrote; "It is one thing to say we don't steal, but are we generous? It is one thing to say we don't bear false witness, but do we speak truth when we open our mouths? Going from commandment to core value is, in essence, going from theory to application."

Let's continue with the ninth commandment: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (Exodus 20:16).

Of course, if all is well we will not lie, cheat, or falsely accuse others. But the real question is: Do we speak truth when we open our mouths?

One of the most famous questions ever asked in the history of mankind, was the one Pilate desperately confronted Jesus with: ‘and what is truth?’ That question still lingers in our courtrooms. As a matter of fact, it lingers in our homes, schools, political arenas, businesses, and even in our churches. What is truth? A very relevant question for today.

As in Pilate's time, we also live in a world that is made up of accusations, lies, and gossip. We are constantly bombarded with stories about people cheating, lying, and accusing others of being the reason for the mess they are in. Such practices even have entertainment value. It seems mankind hasn’t moved up the ladder of integrity very much.

Can we answer Pilate’s question with a certainty that would settle all dispute, all error, and all doubt? It is now more important than ever before, that we live and speak truthfully and discover how to stand up for biblical values and principles in a troubled world that seems to have taken a free fall into lawlessness. 

👉The core value I have attached to the ninth commandment is TRUTH

We will stand up for truth and boldly proclaim the values and principles of the Bible.

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For more on this topic, read my book 'SPIRIT OF TRUTH' (Finding certainty and standing firm in a troubled world). This book is available on Amazon in your country.

Ten Core Values for the Christian life (8)

Are you enjoying this series? I sincerely hope these blog posts will give you new insights and revelation about the depth and riches of God's Word.

Let's continue with the eighth commandment: You shall not steal (Exodus 20:15).

Surely, you are not a thief 😀

But let's take this up a notch. Are you generous? Do you rather give than take? It is a sobering fact maybe, but we spend most of our lives accumulating possessions, whether they are the house, the car, the boat, the job, the money, or the mate we desire.

We think more stuff will make us happier and give us a more fulfilled life, although Jesus had quite a stern warning against storing up treasures on earth. How can we shift our all-too-human attitude of gathering into an attitude of giving? Is it truly possible to become cheerful givers? I believe we can!

🔑The key to a fulfilled life is not gathering but giving. And this is not just about material possessions, there is a deep spiritual truth hidden within the eighth commandment. We are not just called to give our hearts to Jesus, we must give it all (wallets included)! Our spirits need to be born again, our souls need to be saved, and our bodies need to be a living sacrifice. Our lives are a generous offering to God.

👉The core value I have attached to the eighth commandment is GENEROSITY.

We live a life of generosity which is the key to a blessed life.

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For more on this topic, read my award-winning book 'GRACE OF GIVING' (Turning the key to enter and experience fullness of life). This book is available on Amazon in your country.

Ten Core Values for the Christian life (7)

The Ten Commandments represent ten core values, spiritual values, that will help us to live a dedicated and fruitful Christian life.

A core value is a principle or belief that a person or organization views as being of central importance. I feel free to say that the Ten Commandments describe values that would make for a happier and safer society... if applied.

Let's continue with the seventh commandment: You shall not commit adultery (Exodus 20:14).

When I first started reading the Bible in English, I struggled with words such as adultery and idolatry. I mixed them up from time to time. But you know what? There is some truth in that. Idolatry is spiritual unfaithfulness while adultery is physical unfaithfulness, which basically means to forsake our first love!

God is spirit and God is love and we are not. We are humans of flesh and blood, and we may wonder: ‘Is it possible to love and keep on loving? Is it possible to be faithful to the end?’

I believe it all starts with receiving God's love, renewing our understanding of that love, and refreshing the way we love Him back. What God wants to establish in our spiritual lives, He will surely use in our day-to-day natural circumstances. God is faithful, even if we are not. The Psalmist wrote: ‘Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life.’ 

👉The core value I have attached to the seventh commandment is FAITHFULNESS.

We are being faithful to our spouses and to God.

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For more on this topic, read my book 'FIRST LOVE' (Embracing the challenge to pursue faithful relationships). This book is available on Amazon in your country.

Ten Core Values for the Christian life (6)

How do we go from Ten Commandments to Ten Core Values? In other words, how can we go from just following rules (Law) to living by convictions (Spirit)?

That's quite a question, isn't it? I hope you are enjoying this new blog series. Let's continue with the sixth commandment: You shall not murder (Exodus 20:13).

We don't need higher education to understand this. Surely, we are not killers. The true question is: Do we value life?

As human beings, we are made in the image and likeness of God. We are uniquely designed triune beings: spirit, soul, and body. We are made in the image of a loving God who is the source of all life.

We are made in the image and likeness of a God who, at the right time, became like one of us... this is the mystery of the Christian faith.

Jesus showed us what God is like. He gave His life for us, to save us from a life of sin and self-destruction. He offers us abundant life!

Maybe they have called you an accident, an incident, even a mistake, or simply illegitimate. Whatever the public opinion; conception is no coincidence. You are wanted and cherished by God, the Creator of the universe.

Life doesn't start with conception and it doesn't end with death. Our existence is eternal, that's the way God designed it. All of life is valuable to Him and it should be to us!

👉The core value I have attached to the sixth commandment is LIFE.

We advocate the protection of life, from life in the womb to the life of the elderly.

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For more on this topic, read my book 'Breath of Life' (A journey into origin & purpose of spirit, soul, and body). This book is available on Amazon in your country.

Ten Core Values for the Christian life (5)

In this new blog series, I have summarized the Ten Commandments (and the subsequent books I wrote) in what I like to call the ‘Ten Core Values’ of a dedicated and fruitful Christian life.

👉No longer is the emphasis on dos and don’ts but on what a life, led by the Holy Spirit, could be like.

So far, we've seen that loyalty towards God, a lifestyle of worship, seeking His presence, and sabbats rest are basic values every believer should live by.

Let's continue with the fifth commandment:  Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you (Exodus 20:12).

‘Honor your father and your mother,’ is a biblical command that has been regarded as wonderful by some and as awful by others. Wonderful for those who grew up in loving households with caring parents. Awful, for those who were mistreated, abandoned, or even abused.

In my book 'Respectfully Yours' I have looked at this commandment from a New Testament perspective, from a grace-perspective if you like. I have purposely used the words of the apostle Paul, who was familiar with both law and grace, as can be read in Ephesians 6:1-4,

Children, it is your Christian duty to[a] obey your parents, for this is the right thing to do. “Respect your father and mother” is the first commandment that has a promise added: “so that all may go well with you, and you may live a long time in the land." Parents, do not treat your children in such a way as to make them angry. Instead, raise them with Christian discipline and instruction.

He recites the fifth commandment and the promise of well-being and a long life. He furthermore adds a call for parents to treat their children well and to raise them according to biblical principles. Respect should be mutual.

👉The core value I have attached to the fifth commandment is RESPECT.

We show respect to our parents, children, and God and at the same time, we are deserving of respect, which will provide us with a long and healthy life.

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For more on this topic, read my book 'Respectfully Yours' (Revealing God's truth about well-being and a long life). The revised edition will soon be available on Amazon in your country.

Ten Core Values for the Christian life (4)

Hopefully, you are enjoying this new series based on the Ten Commandments and the subsequent books I wrote on these topics.

Although the Ten Commandments have not changed, the way we make them come true is totally different under the new covenant. Merely obeying or keeping a set of rules can turn into legalism.

However, making the teachings come true by fulfilling them in our daily lives is a whole different story. That is why I have attached core values to the commandments. 🌻Core values that would make for a happier and safer society... if applied.

So far, we've seen that loyalty towards God, a lifestyle of worship, and seeking His presence are basic values that every believer should live by. Let's continue this blog series with the fourth commandment:  Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8-11).

It might surprise you, but the book I wrote about this commandment is not a promotion for a holy Saturday, or a holy Sunday for that matter. I have left that discussion up to others. I believe that the spiritual truth hidden within the fourth commandment is about honoring God by setting one day a week apart for Him. So, which day of the week that will be, should not be the focus of discussion.

If you are active in ministry, you work on Saturdays (in Messianic congregations) or on Sundays (in most churches) as well as on other days of the week. You will definitely need a day of rest somewhere in the middle of the week, to honor the Lord. I am speaking from my own experience. The apostle Paul wrote:

So let no one make rules about what you eat or drink or about holy days or the New Moon Festival or the Sabbath. All such things are only a shadow of things in the future; the reality is Christ [Colossians 2:16-17].

Let no one make rules, but God of course! For He alone is Lord of the Sabbath. Throughout the centuries people did make rules though. The Jewish leaders did it, the church did it, and if you grew up in a Christian home your parents probably did it. It is sad but true that the rules we made, have often obstructed the blessing that will follow when we take a day of rest after six days of work.

👉The core value I have attached to the fourth commandment is REST

We practice sabbatical rest on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis, and experience a blessed balance in our daily lives.

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For more on this topic, read my book 'Sacred Sabbath' (God's way to multiply our time and restore our joy). The book is available on Amazon in your country.

Ten Core Values for the Christian life (3)

Jesus taught His disciples to pray: Our Father in heaven: May your holy name be honored (Matthew 6:9).

To honor the name of the Lord comes as the opposite of misusing that name, or using that name in vain. And that brings us to part 3 in this new blog series, to the third commandment: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain (Exodus 20:7).

It is one thing to claim we don’t use the Lord’s name in vain. We don't swear, we don't misuse His name. But for what purposes do we use His name? 

Are we bringing honor to His name? Do we have a genuine love for His name? Is everything we do and say then, done in His name?

‘Lord’ is not a word to end our sentences with when we talk to Him, nor is it a filler to make our prayers sound more holy and authentic. ‘Lord’ (YHWH) is His personal revelatory name and He gave it to us for use on a daily basis. Why?

Because God's presence is connected to His name.

• In Exodus 20:25b, for example, God says Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you.
• Or, as Jesus said, in Matthew 18:20: For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.
• And let's not forget the announcement of the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:23): Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, God with us.

Whenever we call on the name of the Lord, He will be right there. His presence is in His name.

👉The core value I have attached to the third commandment is PRESENCE

We seek the presence of God daily by honoring His name and His presence brings peace, healing, and revelation.

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For more on this topic, read my book 'In My Name' (Inviting God's holy presence in daily situations). The book is available on Amazon in your country.

Ten Core Values for the christian life (2)

Come, let us bow down and worship Him; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker [Psalm 95:6].

Let's continue this blog series with the second commandment: You shall not make any idols and you shall not bow down to them or worship them (Exodus 20:4-5).

That's the second commandment in a nutshell. As we have seen in the previous post the first commandment is about not having other gods before Him. The second commandment specifies this in more detail: don't make images of other gods (idols) and don't worship them.

I truly believe the second commandment is at its core all about worship. It is a call to worship and bow down to no one else but God alone. Now, if all is well, Christians do not worship or bow down to idols (although we might never have missed an episode of Idols on TV). Yet, I have met believers who were more devoted to their church, their denomination, their dogma's and doctrines, or their preachers and worship bands, than to God!

Which brings us to a realistic and probing question. What would be left of our modern-day Christianity when all is taken away: the buildings, the meetings, the money, the power, the titles, the theology, the music, and the concerts? What would be left?

We might find ourselves on our knees again, without anything. Just us, on the floor… waiting for God to speak, waiting for Him to come. After more than two thousand years of Christianity, we might find ourselves bowing down again, empty-handed, with nothing but our time and lives to give Him.

Jesus prophesied that the time was coming when by the power of God’s Spirit people would worship the Father as He really is, offering Him the true worship He so desires. Have you ever wondered what true worship would be like? It begins where idolatry ends.

👉The core value I have attached to the second commandment is WORSHIP.

Our gratefulness and devotion towards God express themselves in a lifestyle of worship.

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For more on this topic, read my book 'True Worshipers' (Answering the Father's call for a lifestyle of pure devotion). The book is available on Amazon in your country.

Ten Core Values for the christian life (1)

'Going from commandment to core value is, in essence, going from theory to application', I wrote in my previous blog.

If you have read one or more of my books in the series about the Ten Commandments you will have noticed that the books are not about what we can or cannot do, but about what the Holy Spirit wants to do through us.

So, let's start with the first commandment: You shall have no other gods before Me (Exodus 20:3).

The first commandment is more than just a rule, a law, a decree, or even a mere prohibition. In essence, it is a call to holiness. My free interpretation comes down to ‘No compromise’, which is quite radical in a world full of compromises, choices, and alternatives.

We want it all and we can have it all, but in the process we are becoming more and more disoriented and less and less focused. Major confusion, whether mentally, emotionally, physically, or spiritually, is the disease of our time.

As Christians, we should never mix our faith in God with the enticements of this world. This is dangerous ground… unstable ground and the Bible warns us repeatedly not to go that way. ‘You shall have no other gods before me’ means much more than just refraining from worshiping idols. Of course, we have no other gods besides the Lord in our lives, if all is well.

But let’s be honest here; how big is the influence of the world in our lives? Are we refusing to let the world corrupt us? It seems this evil world is closing in on us, which can be quite a frightening feeling. All the more reason to stick with Jesus! The first commandment is therefore a call for undivided loyalty towards the Lord.

👉The core value I have attached to the first commandment is LOYALTY.

Our loyalty is to God alone and we will not be distracted by the concerns of this world. 

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For more on this topic, read my book 'No other gods' (Why undivided loyalty to the One and only living God matters in these days). The book is available on Amazon in your country.

Ten Core Values for the christian life (intro)

It has often been said, that the Ten Commandments are not the ten suggestions. I agree.

👉Although nowadays we might struggle with the idea of 'commandments' we cannot change the fact that the Bible orders believers to do or restrain from certain things. A commandment is an instruction, a directive, or an order.

God commands His angels to watch over us* (oh, how we like that) but He also commands us to love our enemies (ouch).

A happier and safer society

While writing my book series about the Ten Commandments in the 21st century, I discovered that they basically represent ten core values for a dedicated and fruitful Christian life. A core value is a principle or belief that a person or organization views as being of central importance. I feel free to say that the Ten Commandments describe values that would make for a happier and safer society... if applied.

New Covenant

Although the Ten Commandments have not changed, the way we make them come true is totally different under the new covenant. Merely obeying or keeping a set of rules can turn into legalism. However, making the teachings come true by fulfilling them in daily life is a whole different story, as Jesus had to explain many times. The apostle John understood it. He wrote:

Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining (1 John 2:7-8, NLT).

Do you see that? Jesus lived the truth of the commandments. I believe we are called to do the same. It is the way to push back darkness! No longer is the emphasis on dos and don’ts but on what a life, led by the Holy Spirit, could be like.

From theory to application

It is one thing to say we don't steal, but are we generous? It is one thing to say we don't bear false witness, but do we speak truth when we open our mouths? Going from commandment to core value is in essence going from theory to application.

So, in the next blog post, we will start with the first commandment (You shall have no other gods before Me) and discover the core value hidden within this commandment. It is my hope that you will join me in this series. Along the way, the Holy Spirit will expand our understanding of a proper balance between law and grace.

*Psalm 91:11