You shall not murder.
Probably the most well-known of the ten commandments. Even among non-Christians.
If you were to poll non-Christians and Christians about the ten commandments, I’d guess this would be the one that would rank number one as the commandment most remembered.
Why?
I suppose it’s because we consider murder the worst possible crime that can be committed against another person.
I believe God considers it the same way. Why do I think so? Because of what God said.
After the flood, he told Noah,
And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting…from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.
Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. (Genesis 9:5-6)
The first time God ever mentions capital punishment is in the context of murder.
The reason? Because when we murder someone, we murder the very image of God.
No other creature was made in God’s image. Only humans.
And so God places a very high value on us.
The question is, do we?
The reason murder is so bad is that we have completely devalued human life to the point that we destroy it.
But how often do we devalue the lives of the people around us?
Recently, I heard a story of a high school student who stabbed her teacher’s arm with an exacto knife. Not exactly a sign of valuing her teacher’s life.
But she came from a family where her parents apparently didn’t value each other very much either. They are now separated.
Could it be that she learned her attitude from her parents?
When Osama bin Ladin was killed, one of my students asked me why the Americans were so jubilant that someone had died.
What’s more, he asked this in light of the fact that most Americans claim to be Christian. His unspoken question was, “Is that how a Christian thinks?”
Even God doesn’t rejoice in the death of the wicked. (Ezekiel 33:11).
Their sins must be punished, but God isn’t dancing on their graves.
He weeps for them, because these were people who were originally created in his image, and they went horribly wrong.
That said, I’m relieved that Osama bin Ladin won’t be hurting anyone else.
But I can’t find it in myself to dance on his grave. Because God doesn’t. He values human life too much to do so.
But on a more practical level, how much do we value the people around us?
What thoughts do you hold in your heart, especially to people who hurt you?
Jesus said that if you hold anger in your heart towards another, it’s like murdering them (Matthew 5:21-22).
Why? How often can you hold anger and bitterness in your heart towards a person, and still see God’s image in them? It’s basically impossible. You almost inevitably devalue them as a person.
You start assigning labels to them: Stupid. Selfish. Inconsiderate. Cruel. And worst of all, worthless.
And by holding these attitudes, you’ve effectively murdered them in your heart.
You may not do it physically, but how often have you cut off people in your life because of unresolved anger and unforgiveness in your heart?
I’m not saying that there are not times when we need to cut off people from our lives, particularly when we’re in physical danger from them.
But to cut them off because of anger and hatred is tantamount to murder.
Do you value people as God does?
That’s the key issue in this command.
If we value people as God does, we would never murder them, either physically, or in our hearts.
Instead, we would see them as people created in God’s image, and who are to be valued because of it.
Jesus valued them enough to die on a cross for them.
Do you?
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 