St. Vladimir Memorial Church in Jackson, NJ

Ten commandmends of the Lord

A guide to confession.

1. I am the Lord your God: you shall have no other gods besides Me

Let’s think: do we really love no one and nothing as much as God, do we not honor or listen to anyone more than God? Do we treat God with complete trust, have we never grumbled at God, etc.?

We sin against this commandment by lack of faith, unbelief, doubt, despair in our salvation, hope in ourselves and in people more than in God; people-pleasing and partial love for people, creatures, things, activities; grumbling and impatience when things are not done according to our desires.

2. You shall not make for yourself any graven image or any likeness

Let’s think: Don’t we serve mammon more than God? Your self-love, your pride, covetousness, gluttony, drunkenness, the mighty of the world to the point of oblivion of God? We sin against the 2nd commandment by our subservience to the spirit of the times and worldly customs.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord God in vain

We sin by saying prayers without any attention to their meaning; pronouncing the name of God in humorous conversations, or with irritation; violation of oaths and vows; contempt and respect for piety; modesty to appear to be a Christian; idle talk.

4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy

The Sabbath day for us is Sunday. On this day, we must not only confess our faith by going to the temple of God, but we must do alms for Christ’s sake. We should spend our free time in contemplation and prayer.

We sin by not going to church out of laziness, or because we consider it unimportant; visiting festivities, theater, cinema during great holidays;

5. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days on earth may be long

We sin by self-justification to our parents; disrespect for elders; negligence about the welfare of parents; carelessness about raising children, and cruel acts towards them.

6. Thou shalt not kill

We sin against the sixth commandment not only by physical act, but also by word. It is important to know that the Holy Church considers the abortion of an unborn child to be murder under any circumstances, and both the doctor and the mother are considered guilty of this sin.

In a word, we violate this commandment when we tempt our listeners to sin with our slander and slander against others; bitterness in sins, stubborn resistance to the truth, and irreconcilability with people and God.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery

This commandment generally prohibits all carnal uncleanness, and like the sixth commandment, it is not limited to physical actions alone.

We sin by fornication, adultery, masturbation; reading immoral books, looking at unchaste pictures and films, lust; passion for obscene objects. and their enjoyment. Even those who have a civil marriage, but are not married in church and cohabit as husband and wife, are considered violators of this commandment.

8. Thou shalt not steal

We sin with theft, robbery, parasitism, extortion, stinginess, wastefulness, injustice, love of money, falsehood, concealment; in one word - we sin by dishonesty.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor

We sin with slander, gossip, ridicule, flattery, gossip, condemnation, suspicion, insincerity.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife…anything that your neighbor has

We sin with envy, selfish desires and greed.