I was thinking about murder. Animals will kill each other all the time. However, most of the time, there’s an instinctual reason for it based on survival. Yet, the way animals behave shows that they don’t do it for pleasure, they do it for survival.
When I look at the history of humanity, the picture is so much different. It just doesn’t make sense. In war, somehow, humanity has decided that killing each other is a way to solve problems. If there’s a dispute between countries, then the best way to solve the problem is to kill each other? When someone murders, we have decided that the best punishment is death. In fact, there are even some countries where other offences are punishable by death. Someone thought that the best way to control people is to threaten them with death. Then, if anyone watches reality true crime shows, there’s countless of cases where someone wanted out of a relationship or wanted money, and their solution was to kill someone in order to get what they wanted.
People killing each other every day because they are trying to control each other. They want power and want to believe that they are like God. It is the sin of pride. Yet, when Jesus was out in the desert and He was tempted with calling all the armies of angels to come down from Heaven and make all of humanity bow down before Him and do His bidding, Jesus wouldn’t do it. Even the Son of God knew that controlling other isn’t the way.
That commandment is given to us in the Ten Commandments. It seems like a simple truth. Thou shall not kill. You shouldn’t have so much pride to think you know better than God when someone should live and when they should die. Today, as I contemplate this one commandment, I am realizing that with all these seemingly simple concepts, there’s much more to it than I ever thought. It isn’t just about killing or having too much pride. It’s about realizing what in the life a person has control over and what they don’t have control over. I have control over my life and nothing else. When I try to exert control over someone else, by manipulation, lies, or murder, that’s a sin. That’s why Jesus wouldn’t do that. He respected The Father and so do I.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
