Fundamental #16

Memory Scripture

You shall not murder.—Exodus 20:13

Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.—1 John 3:15

Summary Statement

We learn throughout the pages of the Bible that God wants us to respect human life. One of God’s 10 Commandments is that we should not murder. Jesus Christ taught that we are to love our enemies. Human life is precious to God! We are made in His image, and He has big plans for all people!

Because God wants us to be part of His Kingdom in the future, we are currently like representatives of His government. Sometimes we can do this and follow God with no problems in the countries where we live. But sometimes leaders in our countries may ask us to do things that don’t match with God’s instructions. We know that when that happens (and it does), we should obey God rather than people.

When people join armies or other military groups, they have to do what their military officer tells them to do. Sometimes the military officers will tell them to do things that do not match with Jesus Christ’s teachings—like go to war, take a human life, or break the Sabbath. Jesus taught that His Kingdom is not currently taking place in this world and that His servants (those who call themselves Christians) should not fight in wars or take human life. We should not even hate another human being.

Begin Your Study

Read through the memory scripture together with your children, then read through the summary statement (remember to simplify the statement, if necessary). Have your children cut and paste the summary statement from this page in their “Fundamentals Bible Study Journal” (as suggested in the Memorizing Scripture resource “The Fundamentals”). Next, have your children read and write the memory scriptures, Exodus 20:13 and 1 John 3:13, in their journals.

Discuss with your children how one of God’s 10 Commandments is that we should not murder. Yes, this means not killing someone, but the full meaning of this Commandment goes so much deeper. God wants us to respect human life and love others (Matthew 22:39). God created human life and wants everyone to be in His family.

Read Matthew 7:12 with your children. Ask, “How do you want others to treat you?” That is how we should be treating others! Take a moment to brainstorm with your children specific ideas of how they would like others to treat them. Ask, “Is it on your list that you would want someone to be mean to you, say unkind words, or hurt you?” No, of course not. God tells us we should live His way and treat others with love and kindness and respect.

Digging Deeper Interaction #1

Have your children read through the memory scriptures, Exodus 20:13 and 1 John 3:15. Ask, “What is the opposite of hate?” Love is the opposite of hate.

One way to show love toward others is to make kindness notes. Have each family member write a kind, sincere compliment about each member of the family. Collect all the notes and then create a card for each person that includes all the comments addressed to that particular family member. Put the card on each person’s plate at your Sabbath dinner this week. This could also be done at a get-together or sleepover with friends!

Digging Deeper Interaction #2

Review the memory scriptures. Then begin this interaction by asking your children to name as many different emotions as they can in one minute. Talk about how we all do feel powerful emotions sometimes, such as being angry. Anger can lead to hate, so we need to learn how to regulate our emotions so that we don’t lose our self-control!

Depending on the ages of your children, create strategies for helping them deal with their emotions. Some examples include:

• For younger children: Create a calming box or bag. Inside, have your child place a couple of items to help calm them down when feeling upset or angry. Items could include a special stuffed animal, paper and crayons to draw, a soothing sand timer to watch, a balloon to practice taking deep breaths, and a calming book.

• For older children: Create a feelings journal. Have your child choose a special notebook and decorate the cover as a feelings journal. Inside, have some prompts for them to write about, like “How am I feeling?” “What happened right before I began to feel that way?” “What would be a better choice for how to respond next time something like that happens?”

• Create a small poster on the computer or poster board, showing steps for your children to follow when they are feeling upset or angry. Step 1: Calm down time. Step 2: Pray to God. Step 3: Unpack my feelings with Mom and Dad.

• Play a game, such as a board game, cards, or Jenga, to name a few options. Model and teach your children how to lose graciously and without becoming angry if they do not win.

Bible Story: Cain

Read Romans 6:23 to your children. Tell your children that together you are going to read together the story of a man who made the choice to sin. As the apostle John wrote, “Sin is lawlessness” ( 1 John 3:4 ). In other words, sin is when we do not do the things that God tells us to do in His law.

Now read the story of Cain with your children in Genesis 4:1-15. After reading the story together, ask your children, “How did Cain sin?” Discuss Cain’s feelings of anger that were behind his sin of murder. Ask, “Has there ever been a time that you felt angry? When you feel that way, what can you do so that you do not sin?”

Cain had a choice about what to do when he felt angry. God told him to “rule over it,” or to control how he was feeling and make a change so that he would not sin. Any time we begin to have feelings that might lead us to break God’s law, we can go to God and ask Him to help us resist that wrong urge.

Bonus Ideas

Probably the most memorable and most often quoted Bible passage on this subject takes place during Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, recorded for us in Matthew 5-7. Read through Matthew 5:21-24 with your children and discuss what this means for us today. Talk about what it means to be reconciled and come up with examples of what that looks like in practice.

Read in 1 Samuel 25 about the story of Abigail, a woman who had a talent for making peace, even during times of war and even though she was married to a violent and stubborn man. You can find the EEI study “Abigail the Peacemaker” in our People of the Bible section.

Find more ideas on how to show kindness, love and respect in the Shepherding the Heart study titled “Kindness.”

Wrap-Up Activity

Have your children write Exodus 20:13 and 1 John 3:15 on a new scripture poster to hang up in the house. You may also want to create an extra scripture for Matthew 7:12 or have your children add that to their journals.

To end your study, have your children recite the memory scriptures for a small audience, perhaps during a family breakfast before heading off to school.