Here’s another child-friendly version of the Ten Commandments. This one was written by Ron Rienstra.
The Ten Commandments
1. You may not love anyone or anything more than you love God.
2. You may not worship, or put more importance on any person or thing, other than God. You must worship only the Lord, not your parents, not a friend, not a movie star or a sports hero, not a car or boat or skateboard. Nothing.
3. You may not swear. Use God’s holy name only in a loving way, never to express anger or frustration.
4. One day of your week should be set aside for rest and the worship of God. Work six days of the week only. You need a special day set aside to relax, to enjoy God’s world, and to meet with other Christians.
5. Be respectful to your parents. Love them, and the Lord will reward you with a long life.
6. You may not hate other people; don’t ever think of hurting someone else in any way.
7. Keep your thoughts and actions pure. Sex is a gift of God to married couples.
8. You may not take and keep anything that doesn’t belong to you.
9. You may not tell lies, especially when that lie will hurt someone else.
10. You may not be jealous of what others have. You may not be jealous of your friend’s new toy or clothes or the big house your neighbor lives in. Be satisfied with what you have.
—Adapted from the NIV Adventure Bible (Zondervan) by Ron Rienstra. Part of Lifelong Learning, http://www.reformedworship.org/article/june-2002/lifelong-learning-service-celebrating-educational-and-discipling-ministry-church June, 2002, posted on Reform Worship.
Exodus 20: 1-20 (the giving of the Ten Commandments) is one of the suggested scripture texts for October 2, 2011 (the sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost). For more worship resources related to this text, or other texts for this Sunday, click on Proper 22A in the list of “Labels” at the lower right side of the page.
For more worship resources on the Ten Commandments, click on Ten Commandments in the list of “Labels” at the lower right side of the page.
For more resources for intergenerational worship, click on intergenerational worship in the list of “Labels” at the right.
