Exodus 20 - The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments: 1 - "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." = Love God. 2 - "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" = Love God. 3 - "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." = Love God. 4 - "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." = Love God. 5 - "Honor thy father and mother" = Love thy neighbor. 6 - "Thou shalt not kill" = Love thy neighbor. 7 - "Thou shalt no commit adultury" = Love thy neighbor. 8 - "Thou shalt not steal" = Love thy neighbor. 9 - "Thou shalt not bear false witness" = Love thy neighbor. 10 - "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's things" = Love thy neighbor. In Matthew 22:36-40 we learn that the first great commandment is to "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." All the other commandments are part of these two commandments. I think that out of all these commandments, the ones that are neglected most by the world are the ones where we show that we love the Lord with all our heart, mind, and soul. Especially the first three, to have no other gods, no idols, and to not take the name of the Lord in vain. There are so many things in the world that grab for our attention. There are so many things that we could choose to focus on. We need to remember that the Lord is more important than all those things that we may want here in life. Even as members of the church it is sometimes easy fall into the trap of going through the motions of keeping these three commandments rather than actually keeping them with our whole heart. In the student manual for the third commandment, it pointed out that not taking the name of the Lord in vain includes more than simply not swearing. But when we have made sacred covenants at baptism, in the temple, priesthood covenants and responsiblities for men, taking the sacrament, and all these other things, if we treat them lightly after we have entered into covenants we are taking the name of God in vain! Those covenants are sacred and need to be kept with all our heart, soul, and mind, and when we don't we are treating the name of the Lord vainly. How much of a difference would it make in our lives if we were truly concerned first about pleasing the Lord and keeping Him in our thoughts? What actions would change in our lives if we truly develop a relationship with the Lord and keep His commandments because we love Him? I think a lot of things would change. I know that when we love the Lord and put Him first in our lives everything else falls into place. Life doesn't necessarily get easier, but the way becomes clearer, our resoulutions become more firm, and we are truly able to do all things the Lord would have us do! When I feel myself slipping away from the closeness that I want to feel with my Father in Heaven and my Savior one thing I focus on is my thoughts. A really good indicator for me as to where I am standing is to recognize where my thoughts are and what they are when I don't have to be thinking about anything. The Lord needs to be first in all our words, deeds, and thoughts. When He is first in our thoughts and we truly seek to do and know what He would have us know, I testify that He will make those things known to us. We can be constantly under His guidance and direction. I am so grateful for that and I have come to rely on it so much throughout my life!