HOW TO REMEMBER THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
We all know that we shouldn’t break the Ten Commandments, but how do you remember what they are? What is the order and is that important? Here is a way to remember all the Ten Commandments in order (according to Martin Luther), courtesy of the confirmation class of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Johnsonville, PA. Please be aware that some of these commandments were paraphrased by the class. Parents, Sunday school teachers, and confirmation teachers: you may want to use these to teach your children/students the Ten Commandments. OR you might want to challenge them to come up with their own “tricks” to remember the Ten Commandments!
First Commandment – You shall have no other gods before me. Memory aide: Hold up one finger, remember “one God.” (How easy is that?)
Second Commandment – You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain. Memory aide – Hold up two fingers, you get the letter “V”, remember vain.
Third Commandment – Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Memory aide – Hold up three fingers, you get the letter “w”, remember worship, which should lead you to Sabbath.
Fourth Commandment – Honor your father and mother. Memory aide – Picture the number 4, turn it upside down and you get the letter “h”, remember the word honor.
Fifth Commandment – You shall not kill. Memory aide – Hold up all five fingers, pull in the middle, ring and pinkie finger and then point your hand like a gun, for killing.
Sixth Commandment – You shall not commit adultery. Memory aide – Six to sex.
Seventh Commandment – You shall not steal. Memory aide – Seven and steal both begin with “s”.
Eighth Commandment – You shall not bear false witness. Memory aide – Picture the number “8” in your head, give it ears, eyes and a nose, and you have a bear. Bear=bear.
Ninth Commandment – You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. Memory aide – Picture the number “9”, turn it into a tree and put a house next to it.
Tenth Commandment – You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, his maidservant, etc. (Our kids’ version – You shall not covet your neighbor’s stuff.) Memory aide – There are about 10 items on the list of things you shouldn’t covet if you read it in the Bible, so our kids used the number 10 as the amount of things they shouldn’t covet.
We hope that this helps everyone reading this to remember the 10 Commandments, because they really are important to know! In our good ol’ Lutheran tradition, we know that the ten commandments are both a guide for life – and point out that sometimes we don’t “measure up” and need God’s saving grace.