Full Restitution – The Eighth Commandment

Full Restitution

Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:19

“You shall not steal.”

Exodus 22:6

“If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution.”

How many times have I done or said something that hurt Susie deeply? Too many to count, I’m sure. Not that I ever intend to hurt her. I’m nuts about this woman, and I wouldn’t lift a finger to hurt her if it meant my life.

But I’ve done it anyway, over and over. Then, as it begins to come out that I’ve done it again, a strange thing happens. I start trying to minimize the damage and get it over with. So I say, “Sorry.” OK. I did a bad thing. Sorry. Now can we please get on with it?

Not so fast. Full restitution is what the Law requires whenever my actions harm the property or wellbeing of my neighbor. I need to learn what I can do to restore peace, re-establish trust, strengthen the bonds of love, and build our relationship back to the same level–and higher–that it was prior to the goof-up.

Making full restitution can take time. But it is the responsibility of those wronged and those who have done the wrong–even if unintentionally–to work together to chart a course that will lead to renewal, strengthening, and full restitution.

Are there any areas in your life waiting to be fully restored from some slip-up or neglect on your part? Is this a good time to get started making full restitution?

Daily meditation in the Law of God helps us along the path of holiness, righteousness, and goodness (Rom. 7:12). Order your copy of The Law of God, a compilation of the Mosaic Law for contemporary believers, by going to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.