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Guides to Moral Living
TEN COMMANDMENTS
(Based on Exodus 10:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:7-21)
The Ten Commandments are traditional and fundamental guides to ethical living. They represent a kind of foundation for human society, regardless of its religious convictions.
- I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before Me.
- You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
- Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.
- Honor your father and your mother.
- You shall not kill.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
- You shall not desire your neighbor’s wife.
- You shall not desire your neighbor’s goods.
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THE GREAT COMMANDMENT
(Matthew 22: 37-39)
The Great Commandment represents a kind of bridge between the Old and New Covenants. It summarizes both the old and the new law.
Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second like unto it is this, Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.
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THE BEATITUDES
(Luke 6:20-26)
The Beatitudes are more a statement of fact than a command. They represent how things are in God’s eyes, and challenge us to live accordingly.
Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.
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FINAL JUDGEMENT
(Matthew 25:31-26)
This is the most explicit and specific indication Jesus gave of what matters most in God’s judgment of human behavior.
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in,
I needed clothes and you clothed me,
I was sick and you looked after me,
I was in prison and you came to visit me.
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TRADITIONAL GUIDES
Corporal Works of Mercy
Feed the hungry
Give drink to the thirsty
Clothe the naked
Shelter the homeless
Visit the sick
Visit those in prison
Bury the dead
Spiritual Works of Mercy
Convert the sinner
Instruct the ignorant
Counsel the doubtful
Comfort the sorrowful
Bear wrongs patiently
Forgive injuries
Pray for the living and the dead
Seven Cardinal Virtues
faith, hope, charity, prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance,
Seven Deadly Sins
lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride