Thoughts... feelings.... action!

"I am the Lord your God...

you shall have no other gods before Me...

You shall not make for yourself a carved image,

nor bow down to them nor serve them.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain..

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy...

Honor your father and your mother...

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet anything that is your neighbor's..."

Exodus 20:1-17

Familiar with those?  You probably are.  If you didn't learn them as a child, maybe you read them in your Bible as an adult.  Or maybe you have a distinct memory of a be-robed Charleton Heston holding them aloft for the children of Israel. 

I was studying the Ten Commandments recently, and started comparing which of them are "actions" and which of them are "feelings".  Where does the sin take place, exactly, when one disobeys a commandment? 

For some of them, it's obvious ~ or I thought it was at first.  "Bearing false witness" simply means lying, and one has to open one's mouth to do that.  Or I suppose it can be done in writing, but I still think it counts as an action.   Stealing, too, is an action.  A crime committed by the hand.

But what about murder?  Murder is an action.  But then I remember Jesus' words in Matthew 5, "But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgement... and anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell." That statement clarifies that it's not just the action of murder that is forbidden by God, it is the feeling in the heart that can lead to it. 

"Thou shalt not commit adultery." {Pretty obvious I learned these in the King James, isn't it?}  Adultery is an action.  But Jesus clarified this, too ~ "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."  And again we see that the crime takes place in the heart first. 

Coveting what belongs to others ~ or as I like to look at it: what God has not chosen for me to have ~ is something that takes place entirely in the heart.  After that, I guess it falls under the category of stealing. 

I like to look at my actions and feel satisfied.  But I also know I'm not perfect.  So if my actions are generally falling in line with the commandments, then my feelings are the culprits.   And that's where so many of these give me pause.

"Honor your father and your mother..." My obedience to that commandment will be seen in my actions, but my actions will be prompted by my attitude.  Same with "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."  I can abstain from work for a day, but that's not really enough to keep the day holy. 

The remaining commandments are the first ones ~ the ones that concern my heart toward Him.  I try not to take His name in vain, but do I revere His name? 

I would never even think to carve something for the purpose of worshipping it.  But there are things that take precedence over Him.  There are things I choose to focus on before Him.   My priorities are my feelings turned into action. 

Galatians 5 contains the list of the fruits of the Spirit.  But immediately preceding that list, are "the works of the flesh".  Most of these I'd like to say I'm innocent of, because the list contains things like sorcery, murder and drunkenness.  But it also contains envy, selfish ambition, and outbursts of wrath. 

My hands and my feet and my mouth commit many of my sins, but my heart does, first.

~ "Jesus said to him, 

' "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 

with all your soul, and with all your mind."  

This is the first and great commandment.  

And the second is like it, 

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  

On these two commandments

    hang all the Law and the Prophets.' " ~

Matthew 22:37-40