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"The Commandments of God... Written in your Hearts," Mosiah 13:11-26

Mosiah 13:11-26

Abinadi proceeds to recount the remainder of the Ten Commandments. He says that he is doing so because it was his perception that the commandments were not written in their hearts. For the benefit of review, I will proceed to list and discuss the remaining eight commandments:
  1. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image." The Lord's explanation for the purpose of this commandment is to not deviate from the true form of worship. Praying to idols, or rendering service to them is grievous to the Lord. So He reminds us that so doing will bring upon us the judgments of God unto both us and our children even up until our great-grandchildren. There is a blessing to those that are obedient as well, and that is that mercy is extended to those who love God. 
  2. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." The Lord goes on to explain that those who do take the Lord's name in vain will be found guiltless. Why? To use the name of Diety as a flippant expression of speech is to take lightly the very source of eternal light and life. In prayer and at other times, we pray in the name of our Lord. How can we expect that prayer to have meaning or depth, if we do not respect the very source? 
  3. "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." There is a fair amount of detail associated with this commandment. The sabbath should be a day apart from daily labors. As the commandment goes on to explain, it should be hallowed, even as the Lord has hallowed it. What would make for a Holy day? We attend to our church services. We refrain from normal conversations in favor of discussing that which is holy. We prepare for the sabbath in so many ways.
  4. "Honor thy father and thy mother." The promise is that we will be blessed with long life and prosperity in the land that God has given us for so doing. As I grow into parenthood, with a third of my lifetime now being spent as a parent, I am growing to appreciate the value of a righteous upbringing and the blessings and advantages that that has afforded me. If on the other hand, I had chosen a different path and to ignore my upbringing, then the labor and efforts of my own parents would have been wasted. In that regard then, I choose to honor my parents. 
  5. "Thou shalt not kill." I appreciate the Savior's extension found in 3 Nephi 12:21-26. Anger is the precursor to violence and is of the devil. Violence in its worse form leads to murder. It begins with our words, and even the thoughts of our hearts. 
  6.  "Thou shalt not commit adultery." Again the Savior provides an extension on this commandment stating that the thought in the heart is as serious a sin as the physical act. "Behold, I give unto you a commandment, that ye suffer none of these things to enter into your heart; For it is better that ye should deny yourselves of these things, wherein ye will take up your cross, than that ye should be cast into hell."(3 Nephi 12:29-30)
  7. "Thou shalt not steal." This verse is grouped with the commandment previous, as if to suggest adultery is theft. (The author choose to group these two commandments together, which is distinct from how they are recorded in Exodus.)
  8. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." The truly righteous variant on this principle is to love our neighbors as ourselves. (see Luke 10:27) Not only is the temptation gone to lie and gossip, but a friendship is established and sincere concern for the well being of others.
  9. "Thou shalt not covet." I've sat on this last commandment for about a week now. Covetousness is greediness. It is the insatiable desire to have what is not ours and hence to not be content. (see Prov. 21:26, Isa. 56:11)
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