510 likes | 2.12k Views
The Seventh Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Steal. Erin, Ashley and Still Topher. What does this mean?. The seventh commandment forbids wrongful taking of your neighbor’s goods without their permission or consent
E N D
The Seventh Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Steal Erin, Ashley and Still Topher
What does this mean? • The seventh commandment forbids wrongful taking of your neighbor’s goods without their permission or consent • This can include: borrowing and not giving back or taking with good intent but never returning • Keeping the property of others is also against the seventh commandment, this includes: business fraud or paying unfair wages to workers AO
What does this mean? • We should fear and love God that we do not take our neighbor’s money or property, or get it by dishonest dealing, but help him to improve and protect his property and means of income. [Exodus 20:15] • Stealing is a sin against God which is made clear in the Bible, so there is never an excuse for any follower of Christ to go against this commandment • We are commanded to respect the properties of others and pay our debts to whoever we owe AO
What does this mean? • There are many reasons why people sin against the Seventh Commandment: greed, selfishness, lack of trust in God, etc... • Greed is the sinful desire to want more than we already have or need while selfishness is to want something so bad that you’re willing to hurt others to get it • Having a lack of trust in God means that you don’t trust him to provide for you what you need on a daily basis AO
What does this mean? • God’s Word tells us not to steal, because it doesn’t run parallel with the life he chose for us to live, a holy and honest life • When we sin against the seventh commandment (stealing, fraud, cheating), we must repent our sins in order to get back on the right track with God • If any man steal an ox or a sheep, and kill or sell it, he shall restore five oxen for one ox, and four sheep for one sheep. (Exodus 22:1) AO
Associated Moral Evils • Sweatshops: Sweatshops steal and take away the dignity of the human person as well as the rights of a human person. • Human Trafficking: Human trafficking literally steals a person from their family, their home, and takes away their personal wellbeing and rights. EB
Associated Moral Evils • The Seventh Commandment also applies to business affairs. • If corporate companies do not comply with the regulations of Global Trade, they could be taking away the human’s right to food and necessities such as proper clothing. EB
Associated Moral Evils • Clean Water Access: When governments and corporations do not cooperate, clean water access can be cut off. • By cutting off the source of clean water, especially for small and remote villages, one steals the ability to thrive and grow from a person, along with their health. EB
Associated Moral Evils • A moral evil associated with this commandment is plagiarism, the stealing of another’s work and claiming it as one’s own. • Another moral evil related to the seventh commandment is cheating on a test, because one stole the knowledge from someone else. EB
Living the Commandment • As a student today, this Commandment may not seem to pertain to us. When we think of stealing, we think of expensive, physical objects. • However, what many do not realize is that this Commandment pertains to much more than just theft. SR
Living the Commandment • Under this Commandment, we are called to be academically honest and responsible. • The Commandment entails respecting the property of others, be it physical or intellectual. • Thus, vandalism is forbidden by this commandment because it is stealing the value of another’s property. SR
Living the Commandment • The Seventh Commandment also applies to our treatment of Creation as well. • This is because, by squandering natural resources, we are stealing from future generations, and decreasing their eventual enjoyment of the world they will live in. SR
Positive Restatement • This Commandment could be restated as follows: “Respect the property of others, be it physical or intellectual, expensive or only of sentimental value, and respect their ownership of their property.” • This statement contains the basic tenets of the original meaning of the Commandment, while presenting these tenets as a mindset to have about the property of others, not just a moratorium of theft. SR