Mess Up, ‘Fess Up, Clean Up–Grow Up – The Eighth Commandment

Mess Up, ‘Fess Up, Clean Up–Grow Up

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.”

“It’s not my fault!” “I didn’t do it!” “Not me–him!”

These are the words of children who, caught red-handed for some misdeed, will always look for someone else to blame. The roots of this blame-laying go deep. Recall Adam in his confrontation with God immediately after the fall: “The woman You gave me, she…” Blame it on the woman. Blame it on God.

The Law of God teaches us to take responsibility for our actions. More than that, it provides ways for us to redeem ourselves for wrong actions. We don’t have to live with the guilt and shame that wrong-doing can produce. If we mess up, we need to ‘fess up, then we can get busy to clean up the mess we’ve made and restore relations with our neighbor.

This is how love grows in us–love for God, Whose Law protects us and our neighbors, and love for our neighbor, who, though we have harmed him, even if unintentionally, will be able to receive us with love again if only we follow the straightforward teaching of this statute.

The Law of God, contrary to what many think, actually liberates us from the burden of guilt by guiding us in the way of goodness. Mess up? No problem: ‘fess up, clean up, and grow up!

Why is it so hard for us to ‘fess up to having harmed others or their property? Why is it so much better to ‘fess up and try to clean up the mess we’ve made?

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.”

–

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.