Our Neighbor’s Keeper – The Sixth Commandment

Our Neighbor’s Keeper

We are our neighbor’s keepers.

Read Exodus 20:13

“You shall not murder.”

Any assault on the dignity of man offends the honor of God. There are many ways we might be guilty of such assaults, even without intending to do so. Implacable anger, bearing a grudge, treating others with contempt, or in a degrading manner, holding back love from our neighbors – all these life-denying practices are forms of murder. We are our neighbor’s keepers, called to edify and encourage one another in all the ways of goodness and life. God has so constructed His divine economy that we are inextricably dependent on one another for realizing the promises and blessings of God. So important is this to God, that He likens failure to fulfill our duties here to taking away our neighbor’s life – murder. So “you shall not murder” takes on more significance than what we may have first thought.

Are there any “murderous” inclinations in your heart? How do you keep watch over your heart, and over your life, to make sure that these things do not prevail in you?

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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.