The Ten Commandments By: Joelle T 8M

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me Don’t worship any other gods, Love God more than you love anything else. If I have a basketball game coming up, and all my teammates pray to a “basketball god” that our game goes well, I shouldn’t join them. I would only pray to the Lord my God that everything goes well. An example related to teens could be worshipping “rap gods.” Sometimes rappers are referred to as that and shouldn’t be worshipped by anyone. A specific life example is worshipping a golden calf. This would be breaking the commandment. You shouldn’t worship anything or anyone other than God. This is a picture of people worshipping a golden calf which is against the commandment.

2.Thou shalt not make unto thee graven images Do not make any idols, Don’t make anything in your life more important than God. It’s okay if you look up to celebrities but making them your idol, higher than God, isn’t. I can follow Beyoncé’s style but praising her would break this commandment and disobey God’s plan. A specific life example for teens is being on your phone more than spending time with your family. Praying and quality time should be more important than anything. If someone close to you does something nice for you, don’t praise them. It is okay to thank them for their kind gesture, but praising is only for the Lord our God. This picture shows an iPhone and represents that God is more important than anything.

3.Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain Do not misuse the name of God, Always say God’s name with love and respect. A good way to follow this commandment would be when you get hurt or feel like misusing God’s name is to replace His name with “gosh” or something like that. Normally teens gossip about stuff. Sometimes you hear from them “Oh my God! Did you hear this happen to so and so?” This is an inappropriate use for God’s name. A specific life example would be when you get hurt. Usually when people get hurt they use curse words or sometimes “Oh my God!” This is breaking the commandment and shouldn’t be used. This picture represents people using God’s name in vain without even saying it. By using this acronym you are still disobeying this commandment.

4.Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy Keep the Sabbath holy, Honor the Lord by resting the seventh day of the week. On the Sabbath day, I should be spending time with my family and going to church. I shouldn’t be on my phone all day or hiding in my room so I don’t have to talk to anyone. Being in high school means a lot of homework especially on weekends. Teens might spend their Saturday relaxing and do all of their homework on Sunday, but since it is God’s holy day we shouldn’t be doing any work so instead your homework should get done on Saturday so you have Sunday to relax and talk with God. A way to follow this commandment could be to go to church with your family. Every Sunday you should go to church and celebrate God. These images show that it is important to talk to God everyday and go attend Mass every Sunday to be close with God and have a good relationship with Him.

5.Honor thy father and thy mother Honor your father and mother, Love and respect your mom and dad. If my parents ask me to do something, I should do it the first time they ask. Usually I don’t listen to my parents the first time but I will. If you decided to go to a party and your parents have set a curfew for you, you should follow that curfew. It doesn’t matter how late your friends are staying out, you should follow the commandment and respect your parents rules. To follow this commandment you can always obey your parents no matter how old you are. Talking to your parents nicely makes them smile and makes their day so doing that more often would be on the right path to God’s plan. I chose this image to represent the answer I put for C). Obeying your parents for a curfew is important because they have control over your life and they only set you a curfew so you are home safe in bed and get enough sleep for the next day.

6.Thou shalt not kill Do not murder, Never hurt anyone If you see someone that you don’t like you shouldn’t hurt them physically or verbally. Instead try being nice to them and see if they are nice back. If someone wants to fight you, say no. Violence is never the answer to anything so just say no and be kind to them. If someone has hurt you or a loved one, you shouldn’t hurt them back to get revenge. Instead you should forgive them and bring them into your life. This broken heart shows that by hurting one person we can hurt the whole community. You don’t know what happens at their house or if they are having a bad day so it is best to always be nice to people so we can come together as a big Catholic community.

7.Thou shalt not commit adultery Do not commit adultery, always be faithful to your husband or wife. I see marriages that are ruined by committing adultery, so when I am older I will make sure to follow this commandment and devote myself to only my spouse and to God. If you are dating someone you should be loyal to them. Seeing two people at the same time would break this commandment. When dating you should only be attracted to your partner not anyone else. If you are married, you should be happy how you are and don’t need to be with someone else. Marriage is a commitment where you devote your life to another person and shouldn’t give any of yourself, in a romantic way, to anyone other than your spouse. These wedding rings show that you must have a strong bond to succeed as a coupler. If you don’t trust each other than your marriage could end in pieces. Be giving to your spouse and only give yourself to them.

8.Thou shalt not steal Do not steal, Don’t take anything that isn’t yours. If I went to 7-11 to buy a slurpee and realized I didn’t have enough money to buy a medium sized one, I shouldn’t fill it up and drink it all before I leave the store. I should only buy what I can afford. Going to a party and seeing that everyone was having so much fun and being carefree isn’t a reason to steal something. Taking a nice pair of shoes at a party of stealing silverware from the cabinets is wrong and shouldn’t happen. If you saw that a $10 bill fell out of someone's pocket in the store, don’t take it. Pick it up and give it back to them and you will be rewarded for your kind action instead of stealing the money. This shows that money isn’t the most important thing in life and doesn’t always lead to success. The answer I put for D) shows that by giving money back can help you more than if you kept it.

9.Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour Do not lie, Always tell the truth. If my mom has told me to go hangout with a friend, I shouldn’t say I did when really I sat inside watching tv. I should either go hangout with a friend like my mom asked me too, which would be the better choice, or I could just tell her the truth that I never called someone to hangout. If you broke commandment five and stayed out later than you should’ve, don’t keep it from your parents. You may think that by not telling them anything, you aren’t lying. But you are keeping them from the truth which also breaks this commandment. If you have eaten the last piece of pizza that someone told you was going to be used for part of their lunch the next day, you shouldn’t say that you don’t know who ate the pizza and you should not blame it on anyone. The responsible thing to do would be to tell the truth. In this picture, the truth is shown more clearly which could mean that it is the better path to take which is correct. Lying is never the solution to any problem. Even if the truth hurts you.

10.Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbours Do not covet, Be happy with what you have. Don’t wish for other people’s things. If I see my neighbour riding a really cool bike, I should be happy for her that she finally got rid of her broken bike and got a nice new one. I shouldn’t be jealous of her new bike even though mine is perfectly fine. An example for teens would be, if you saw your best friend start dating someone that you have always liked, don’t be jealous. Be happy that your best friend is happy. To follow this commandment in general could be to always be happy for anyone when they get something new or have a cool clothing style etc. Don’t be jealous of anyone and just be happy to be yourself. This picture looks back at the answer to B). A new bike doesn’t prove anything or show that you are better than anyone so you don’t need to be jealous if a friend gets a new bike. You should be happy so that you can go biking together.