Truthfulness & Contentment

Introduction

*Aspirational Values
a) Reaching our Community
b) Reflecting our Neighborhood

The Ten

Commandment #1: Do not have other gods besides me.
Commandment #2: Do not make images for yourself with which to worship.
Commandment #3: Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
Commandment #4: Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Commandment #5: Honor your father and mother.
Commandment #6: Do not murder.
Commandment #7: Do not commit adultery.
Commandment #8: Do not steal.

Exodus 20:16-17
Do not give false testimony against your neighbor. 17 Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Truthfulness and Honesty

Commandment #9: Do not give false testimony.

This commandment has to do with:
a) Be truthful
b) Upholding the rule of law
c) Speaking with honesty, and living with integrity

This commandment points us to a life of truth and honesty.

John 1:17
…for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 14:6
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus brings truth, and he is truth.

Proverbs 12:17, 22
Whoever speaks the truth declares what is right, but a false witness speaks deceit… Lying lips are detestable to the Lord, but faithful people are his delight.

Ephesians 4:25
Therefore, putting away lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another.

1 Peter 2:1
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.

Micah 6:8 (ESV)
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Colossians 3:5-10
Therefore, put to death what belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry… now, put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator.

Contentment & Thanksgiving

Commandment #10: Do not covet.

Notice that this commandment is obeyed or broken inwardly.

This commandment has to do with:
a) The attitude of our heart
b) Living with contentment with what you have
c) Being thankful, not greedy

Luke 12:15
He then told them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.”


Matt 15:18-20a But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander. These are the things that defile a person…

1 Timothy 6:6-10
But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. 8 If we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

This commandment points us to a life of contentment and thanksgiving.

Philippians 4:11-13
I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.