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Monthly Messages from Sally Weiesnbach,  Ark Founder & Director of Operations

 We continue our walk through 2023 examining Jesus’ greatest commandment, “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34), and what that means to us today. This month, we see how loving each other Jesus’ way fulfills the 8th commandment God gave to Moses: “You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15)
      When we love our neighbors as ourselves, we respect their rights and their property. Because of our respect for them, we do not steal from them. This principle is also demonstrated in other Scriptures.  For example, in the Old Testament, Proverbs 22:22 states: “Do not rob the poor because they are poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate.” Leviticus 19:11 commands us to “not steal, nor deceive or exploit one another.” So the law of Moses, the 10 Commandments, required us to be respectful and compassionate. Jesus came to fulfill the law. But it’s not just about the Old Testament…

Today, there are countless ways we can steal from each other. Of course, people still rob people of their material possessions. Also, if we hack into someone else’s internet, we steal from them as well as from the Internet Provider, However, we also steal from others in less tangible ways. One example is when we don’t fulfill our obligations. If you’re on a project team, and you don’t carry your weight, you’re stealing from your team’s productivity. Another example is when we gossip. By spreading rumors and innuendos, we rob others of their reputations and the respect of their peers.  
      In the New Testament, look to Jesus’ example to appreciate loving others as ourselves. He said anyone who steals must stop and work to have something to give to those in need. (Ephesians 4:28) Another explanation comes in Paul’s letter to the Romans saying, “Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” (Romans 13:7) It means don’t take and don’t withhold what is due materially, ethically, or spiritually. Through these and other examples, Jesus made it clear that His greatest commandment to love others as He does addresses this condition and all the others. 
      We plainly see how Jesus’ command to love each other His way fulfills the 8th commandment. When we love our neighbors as ourselves, we respect their rights and don’t steal from them. And bonus: If we concentrate all our efforts on this one thing: loving each other as Jesus loves us, we both avoid violating all the other commandments and clearly fulfill the will of God to live in harmony with our fellow man.

Monthly Messages from Sally Weiesnbach,  Ark Founder & Director of Operations

Temptation lurks around every corner these days. Maintaining faithful relationships can seem like an uphill battle. This year, we’re discussing how, as followers of Christ, we are called to a higher standard of love and commitment. Jesus’ command to love one another as He loves us (John 13:34) provides the key to keeping Moses’ commandment, “You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14) By embracing Christ’s divine love, we are empowered to cultivate healthy relationships, honor our commitments, and maintain the sanctity of marriage.
    Jesus calls us to love unconditionally. In Matthew 22:37-39, He emphasizes that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and our neighbor as ourselves. When we wholeheartedly embrace His love, it transforms the way we see things and helps us view others as God’s beloved children. That inspires us to treat others with respect. “Others” includes our spouse.

Adultery often arises from lack of emotional fulfillment in relationships. But loving one another as Jesus loves us, motivates us to invest time and effort in building deep emotional connections with our partner. Ephesians 5:25 reminds husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church, sacrificially and unconditionally. Doing that fosters trust, vulnerability, and emotional intimacy. It strengthens the bond between spouses, guarding against the temptation of seeking emotional fulfillment elsewhere.
     Commitment is the cornerstone of healthy marriages. Jesus’ love for us is fully committed, unwavering, and steadfast. Our commitment to our spouse should reflect that same divine love. Hebrews 13:4 affirms marriage as sacred, saying we should honor the marriage bed and keep it pure. Loving as Christ loves us, we honor our commitment by remaining faithful and devoted to our spouse.
     Yes, temptations arise, but Jesus’ steadfast love for us provides us strength to resist temptation. Following His example of resisting temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11), we can rely on the power of God’s love to prioritize love, find fulfillment in our committed relationship, and be less tempted by adultery.
     Loving like Jesus is a powerful tool to safeguard and honor our intimate relationships. By cultivating selfless, sacrificial, and committed love, we create emotional intimacy, trust, and fulfillment within our marriages. If we embrace this transformative love, allowing it to guide our actions and strengthen our commitment to our spouse, we will live out the commandments God gave to Moses and those our Savior gave us. As we strive to emulate Christ’s love, we discover the joy and fulfillment that come from faithful, loving relationships.

Monthly Messages from Sally Weiesnbach,  Ark Founder & Director of Operations

 It’s July and we are well into our journey on studying how following Jesus’ one command to love our neighbors as He loves us fulfills all of Moses’ 10 commandments. This month we’ll consider how loving our neighbors like Jesus does assures that we follow the 6th commandment in Exodus 20:13: “You shall not murder.”
      As Christians, we are called to follow the example of Jesus and to love our neighbors as He loves us. (Ephesians 4:22) This refers to the way we treat one another, not just the people we know and love, but also our enemies. (Luke 6:27-28) When we are living out this command, we can live out the 6th commandment of not intentionally killing others. 
      To understand fully, we must look at how Jesus Himself lived His life. In Matthew 5:21-22, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” 

With that lesson, Jesus sets two standards. One is obvious: we are not to murder someone in a physical sense. He also means it in a spiritual sense. Loving the way that He loves addresses the attitudes of our hearts, and not just the physical action of murder. 
     The command to love others as Jesus loves us encompasses not only the way we treat our enemies but also ourselves. When we can love ourselves, we can love others in a healthy and productive way. (Mark 12:31) Instead of becoming angry or resentful, we can extend this grace to our enemies. (Matthew 5:44) We stop seeking revenge or harboring hatred. The more we practice loving as He does, the more we learn to seek ways to show love, even when it’s difficult, which helps us avoid lashing out in anger or seeking revenge. 
     Living out Jesus’ command to love our neighbors as He does honors God’s law, including the 6th commandment. Jesus never murdered anyone. He shows respect for life and cares for everyone he meets with kindness, gentleness, and self-control. When we follow His example, we show respect for life. We care for others the way He cares for us. This is a powerful reminder that loving our neighbors as Jesus loves us means we physically and mentally value life, thus honoring old and new commandments.

Monthly Messages from Sally Weiesnbach,  Ark Founder & Director of Operations

Our trek through following Jesus’ simple commandment to love each other as He loves us shows us how that fulfills all ten Old Testament commandments. This month, we are on the fifth commandment, Exodus 20:12: “Honor your father and your mother: that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God will give you.” How is obeying this commandment part of obeying Jesus’ commandment to love others as He loves us?
      Obviously, our parents are part of the “others” Jesus said to love. But all people are not good. Admittedly, not everyone has kindly, godly parents. Still, honoring the parents we get is the way to demonstrate that we love them just like Jesus loved saints and sinners alike. Honoring includes respect, obedience, and treating them with kindness. Showing honor to our parents helps strengthen family bonds, and it teaches us about the importance of respecting our elders and those in authority over us. In God’s hands, it might also show a parent who acts poorly how love is really done. Showing honor also helps us demonstrate love and respect to other authorities, and teaches us to value everyone in our lives, regardless of their age. 

 Honoring our parents truly reflects our love for God and others. Loving, obeying, and respecting parents shows God that we value and appreciate His gifts in our lives. The Bible also provides us with guidance on how to honor our parents through verses such as Proverbs 1:8 (heed their wise advice), Proverbs 23:22 (listen to them and do not despise them), and Ephesians 6:1 (obey them because it is right).
     Take note: Unlike other commandments, this one includes a promise – that our days will be long in the land He provides us.  Additionally, although we may not understand now, nor always agree with our parents and the authorities, when we honor them, we learn to serve others, just as Jesus served those around Him. (Of course, you don’t have to obey being pushed into criminal or hate activities. Those violate all of God’s commandments. Your main goal is honoring your parents in order to obey God, your Creator.) 

     To love others as Jesus loves us, we must learn to be compassionate, nonjudgmental, and caring. Honoring our parents is an ideal way to do that. By following this fifth commandment, we can learn to be more loving and compassionate towards everyone in our lives. That helps us to obey Jesus’ commandment to love others as He loves us as well as to love and honor God Himself.

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Monthly Messages from Sally Weiesnbach,  Ark Founder & Director of Operations

his month, we continue our journey through the Ten Commandments as we discover how Jesus’ new commandment helps us follow all ten by following His one – to love one another as He loves us. When most people think of the 4th commandment, they typically think of a day of rest and relaxation. But it is much more than that. It is also a reminder of how interconnected we are to God and to our fellow man, and how important it is for us to take time to celebrate our relationship with them.

Exodus 20:8-11 says: “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don’t do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and Sea, and everything in them; He rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; He set it apart as a holy day.”

At first glance, this commandment reads like a simple instruction for everyone to take one day a week off from work. But look deeper. Do you see the reminder of our interconnectedness with God and our fellow man? See how God created everything in six days (on God Time) and rested on the seventh. How does that show His sovereignty, faithfulness, and desire for us to appreciate what He created for us to enjoy?
          Look again. Do you see the reminder that our relationships with each other and creation wind through our daily lives? Keeping the Sabbath holy means to spend the day in reverence and honor of God. How?    We do it by resting, reflecting, and celebrating the beauty of our relationships with each other.
          It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the everyday hustle and bustle of our lives and forget how important it is to take a break. We are constantly pressed to be productive and get things done. If we do take that break, it is not often to reflect on our Creator and His love for His creation. But that’s exactly what this commandment means.
          Ultimately, Jesus could love us so well because He intentionally made time to take Sabbath breaks to restore His energy, focus on His Father, reflect on His creation, and appreciate it. By remembering and keeping the Sabbath, we too become aware that life is not just about us but is a gift and we are responsible for appreciation of that gift.

Monthly Messages from Sally Weiesnbach,  Ark Founder & Director of Operations

While we look at how loving one another as Jesus loves us helps us meet all the ten commandments and the one commandment of Jesus, April’s message has us looking at Exodus 20:7 (CSB): “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.”

Taking the Lord’s name in vain is often understood to describe cursing. Both the Old and New Testaments speak to this. The New Testament even instructs believers to “Be filled with the Spirit, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”(Ephesians 4:30) There’s more to it than just using God’s name when cursing. This commandment also means loving each other the way Jesus loves us.  How?

Today, the phrase is generally used for words spoken with disrespect, or without thought to their consequences…

Taking the Lord’s name in vain, then, is more than simply speaking irreverently about God or His name—it is about speaking without regard for the impact your words may have on yourself and on others. The ancient Israelites were forbidden from using the name of the Lord casually and with disregard. Today also, we should honor the Lord in our speech and the way our behavior “speaks” to others about Him.

These days, taking the Lord’s name in vain often looks like expressing frustration or carelessness, such as saying “Oh my God” after spilling a cup of coffee or “Good Lord” in response to a difficult situation. Other forms of taking the Lord’s name in vain include claiming that “God told me” to do something just to convince someone else of our choice, opinion, or attitude. On the other hand, taking the Lord’s name in vain could be mocking believers who claim to have received a special message from Him when we weren’t there and we don’t know what God did or didn’t tell anyone else. Taking the Lord’s name in vain can also look like the obvious – speaking ill of God with blasphemous words and phrases or using the Lord’s name as part of a curse.

It is important for us to understand that taking the Lord’s name in vain is more than just about our words. We can take His name in vain by how we live our lives. We show disrespect to the Lord’s name when we do things that we know He would not want us to do. We take His name in vain when our actions, words, and attitudes disobey Him and when we mistreat or speak badly to those we say we love.

Jesus never took the Lord’s name in vain and He never took anyone else’s name in vain either. He loved everyone – even those with whom he disagreed – by being kind, respectful, truthful, and committed to our welfare. When we are kind, respectful, truthful, and committed to the welfare of each other, we will love each other the way Jesus loves us and avoid the vain use of God’s name.

When it comes to taking the Lord’s name in vain, the primary theme is that of disrespect and carelessness—we should not speak of or behave as if God’s name is a mere habit. We must always be mindful that God is the Creator, sustainer, and sovereign Lord over all. Our words and deeds should reflect that. We are called to show reverence for our Creator and to honor Him and His creation with our lips as well as our lives and our relationships.

References
Exodus 20:7 (CSB): “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” 
Leviticus 19:12 (NLT) “Do not bring shame on the name of your God by using it to swear falsely. I am the LORD.”
Matthew 6:9 (CSV) “Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”
Ephesians 4:29-30 (NIV) “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”