The Ten Commandments: Murder

"You shall not murder."--Exodus 20:13.  The sixth commandment.  Pretty self explanatory and yet this commandment has also been the source of controversy not just among Christians but among all peoples around the world.  Questions like when is it okay to kill? Or is it okay to kill?  The key issue here is the fact that there is a difference between killing and murder.

Murder.  According to the New American Commentary, The Hebrew word used for murder is defined as putting to death improperly or killing for selfish reasons (462)

Murder.  With that definition stated, killing in battle such as in the wars of the Old Testament and arguably the wars that are being fought today would not be classified as murder.

Murder.  Another issue that surrounds this discussion is the issue of self-defense.  In other words, someone dies as a result of one defending against an assault of some sort.

Murder.  But the Bible also speaks of another sort of murder and this is where you and I come into the equation because chances are if you are reading this, you probably have never murdered anyone. Or have you?

Murder.  In Matthew 5:21-22, Jesus describes that being angry with our brother is equivalent to murder.

Murder.  So this is where Exodus 20:13 comes into play for us today.  If we have some unresolved issue with a brother or sister in Christ, it is to our benefit to resolve that issue sooner rather than later as we too will be guilty of breaking the sixth commandment if we don't.

Murder.  The tragedy is there has been a lot of blood shed in the the Lord's church today.  Not because of people physically murdering their brethren, although there have been some cases unfortunately.  But more so there have been countless murders in the church because of people's unwillingness to resolve their disagreements with each other and that anger just consumes this person from the inside out.

Murder.  So my encouragement to you is this, if for some reason you are angry with your or brother or sister, go to him or her and get the issue resolved as quickly as possible.  God hates murder.  Let's make it a point to not be guilty of murdering our brethren through anger.

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!