“Honor your father and your mother” is the fifth commandment given to us by God. This commandment not only includes our biological mother and fathers, but also other human authorities in our lives such as political leaders, police, pastors, and so on. According to Deuteronomy the people had kings and judges, and other higher officials who they were to respect and honor not simply their father and mother.
The opposite of honor is dishonor, which means that anytime we dishonor the authorities in our lives, that God has put in place, then we break this command. Unless they ask us to do something that causes us to sin against God, then we should honor them as our authority. God is our heavenly father and ultimate authority in our lives. We live in a society that focuses more on the individual than on a group of people and as a result in many unfortunate ways the family is breaking down. These commandments go unobserved today as children are spoiled and honored above their parents and enter many stages of rebellion against their parents, against authorities and even against the Church. This is a violation of God’s command.
The sixth commandment is “You shall not kill.” This is another commandment that is often passed over as being simple, and yet it means so many different things. Most people know that it is wrong to kill someone, meaning to literally kill them, but we often pass over the fact that we should not injure them or ourselves in any way. This means that when we harm someone with our tongues, slander their name, or even withhold something that they need to live, then we are in a sense killing them. We can commit murder, mentally, spiritually, or physically. By corrupting others morally, enticing others to sin, or poisoning peoples spirits with false teaching we are committing spiritual murder. As I have said before, we live in a world today that is focused on the individual self, and when we do this we have a greater tendency to care only for ourselves and not others causing us to break this commandment more often than we recognize.
The other thing prohibited in this commandment is harming ourselves. We should not harm ourselves in anyway whether it is placing ourselves in the way of danger for no reason, or gluttony we are harming our bodies, the very temple of the spirit of God. When we slight our time with God and no longer take the time to develop our relationship with him we are committing spiritual murder of ourselves and are guilty of breaking this command. God is our creator and he declared his creation to be “very good,” we have no right to destroy that which God has made. It is implied that if we are not to kill others and ourselves then we are to protect and honor others and ourselves instead. This including doing things for others that helps to build them up, keeps them safe, and saves them. We should seek to help people to grow spiritually and not to hinder them. In the same way we should do what we can to protect our bodies from harm, and to grow spiritually in God’s commands.
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