Thou Shalt Not Kill

A primary teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to "honor thy father and thy mother," she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?"

Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family of seven) answered, "Thou shall not kill."

From a collection of LDS jokes on Lightplanet.

I don't know about you, but killing is not something I have really ever been tempted with. I can't watch it on TV or in a movie, (I turn my head away and/or turn off the show), and I can't even fathom killing someone, even in self defense, or worse on accident. I feel this is the most serious of all crimes we can commit. And I know in the scriptures this is actually true as in Alma 39:5, Alma is talking to his son Shiblon about chastity and says "Know ye not, my son that these things are an abomination in the sight of the Lord; yea, most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost." So it ranks right up there. Killing and denying the Holy Ghost are the worst sins we can commit, and then the breaking law of chastity is a close third. (I wonder how many people in the world think sexual sins are as bad as killing someone? Obviously not the media. Although I do find it interesting that in murder cases on tv often the killer/victim have been involved in some type of illicit sexual relationship with each other and/or others. This then inspires the same passion to kill. Obviously an important thing to live this law of chastity. But we're talking about killing, so back on topic.)

As I stated before in the thou shalt not commit adultery post, God is VERY concerned with how we get in and out of this world. Elective abortion falls under this killing category. (And again a law of chastity and thou shalt not kill connection.) From lds.org- "Human life is a sacred gift from God. Elective abortion for personal or social convenience is contrary to the will and the commandments of God. Church members who submit to, perform, encourage, pay for, or arrange for such abortions may lose their membership in the Church."

I also wanted to say that I know SEVERAL people that cannot have children of their own, and if you do have an unwanted pregnancy, adoption is an incredible gift you can give to someone else. An amazing gift that will change your life and theirs forever. Read more about that here.

O.k. so onto how I can apply thou shalt not kill to my life and the funny joke that prompted this next train of thought for me at the beginning. I was thinking about how in New Testament Jesus is giving the Sermon on the Mount and says in Matthew 5: 27-28

"27. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28. But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."

And I thought. That same principle can be applied to killing! And while looking up these references for adultery I remembered that the Savior beat me to my thought. In Matthew 5:21-22 he says

"21.Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

22. But I say unto you, That whosever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgement..."

It's not enough to just not kill. We shouldn't even come CLOSE to where we could kill someone. This means that rather than wishing someone was not in your life, (a form of wanting to "kill" them) we need to figure out how to love this individual and maybe that's why they are in your life to help you learn how to love more fully. (Besides unhealthy/abusive relationships. But even then you can still love the person even if you aren't around them anymore.) And that comes in learning to love others like the Savior did.