Value Life

“‘You shall not murder.'” Exodus 20:13 (NIV)

The sixth commandment was designed to help preserve society. Perhaps you wrestle with defining the boundaries between murder and permissible killing. In the sixth commandment, God is saying no to abortion, no to suicide, and no to euthanasia. God expects us to punish criminals and to preserve and to protect our Country’s freedom. This commandment refers to any type of killing that God disallows. Murder is the unauthorized taking of human life. Let’s affirm the sanctity of human life. Human life is sacred!

Place the same value on life that God does. Moses had to confront the reality of his actions. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew and Moses chose to kill the Egyptian and then hid him in the sand. The sixth commandment had to hit Moses on a personal level.

• “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Deut. 30:19-20 (NIV)

What does it mean to place the same value on others that God does? See others the way God sees them. Consider what God has done for you and for others when He sent Jesus to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. The value God places on you and others has been established by His redemptive activity on the cross. There’s no greater love and there’s no greater value anyone could establish. Value life by loving what God loves and hating what God hates!

Pursuing God,

Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell