“You shall not murder” – Exodus 20:13

At Mount Sinai, the newly freed Hebrews received the Ten Commandments from God, guiding them toward the one true God and teaching them the fundamentals of a good existence and serving as a beacon for the rest of the world.

People frequently assume that these guidelines are simple to follow or that they can be selectively followed and disregarded depending on the situation. People believe they can easily avoid breaking the sixth commandment. However, God ranked this law as one of the top ten most significant.

Exodus 20:13, when God commanded, “You shall not murder,” He meant that no one could take another person’s life. However, Jesus made it clear that one should also not have evil sentiments, murderous intentions, or hatred for a neighbor. Many of us tend to understand and apply this law literally and forget to uphold the sentiment of Christ on the issue. There are instances where people’s livelihood, career, reputation or relationships with others have been killed by the inactions, actions and words of another.

To put it into context, many people have lost their livelihoods, have crucial relationships destroyed and are in jail today are there on account of false witnesses, or due to the inaction of a witness. Understanding that “you shall not murder” means neither taking another person’s life nor harboring animosity toward them might be a helpful reminder to cling to Jesus in order to find peace. Christians should follow the example of their Savior and never forget that God is love when there is division, as opposed to giving in to hateful thoughts, hurtful words, and violent deeds.