The Character of God

This post comes primarily from a devotion that I’ve been reading recently, definitely not from my own head.  I take no credit for these ideas, but I just thought I’d pass them along.  The devotion has been talking about the 10 commandments for the past two weeks or so-and gives us really good reasoning behind them!  The ten commandments aren’t rules to bind us down.  However-we are made in God’s image.  But what does God look like?  What does His character look like?  Have you ever had a friend (especially when you were little) that you’ve really looked up to and tried to imitate everything they do because you see something in them that attracts you in some way, makes you want to be just like them?  We get to know that person’s character and try to copy it.  Why aren't we doing that with God?  We are made in God’s image-we are made to live just like him.  As I said before, the ten commandments aren’t rules that bind us down-they are rules that show us little tidbits about God’s character and how He wants us to live.  Ultimately, when we live as a reflection of He who made us, we will be set free.  This reminds me of some quotes from a video journal from the lead singer of Tenth Avenue North (you can find the whole journal here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CO6ycaEY6A).  He says, “You can’t life for God until you learn to live because of God.”  We live because of God because ultimately, He has shown us this awesome love and He sent His son to die for us on the cross.  That’s AMAZING!  And this creator, this awesome creator, made us, made me, made YOU to live in HIS image!  How cool is that anyway?  So that’s why I’m sharing this with you.  God, who WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, sent His son to die for us on the cross made US in His image.  What does that look like?  What does our God look like?   I challenge you to read these points from this devotion, and reflect on the character of our God as I have been doing recently.  He is a pretty awesome guy!  ;)

So here are the commandments and what my devotion said they show us about God’s character-which I think is a pretty unique and cool way to look at them.  :)

1.  “Do not worship any God besides me.”-God is unique, there is no one like Him!

2.  “Do not make idols of any kind”-Pictures and statues of God could distort our worship of Him.  If we represent His as something we understand, we are misrepresenting Him because He is so much more than anything we can fathom.

3.  “Do not misuse my name”-He is perfectly pure, good, and righteous, and doesn’t want His name associated with anything evil or false or frivolous.  When looking at it this way, how can I even use the phrase “omg” anymore?  I don’t mean any harm…but at the same time, it’s completely disrespectful. 

4.  “Keep the Sabbath holy”-Sunday shows us God’s grace.  It’s a day not to work; we are to use this day to understand more about Him and His graciousness.

5.  “Honor your father and mother”-God values respect, and we can learn from our parent’s experiences

6.  “Do not murder”-God created human life and He wants us to respect this creation!

7.  “Do not commit adultery”-God is pure and faithful and wants us (and our relationships), to be too.

8.  “You shall not steal”-God values trustworthiness; He is trustworthy.

9.  “Do not lie”-God values truth because He is true!

10.    “Do not covet”-God values contentment and wants us to value the things He has given us.