Hannah's Super Essay

As Christians 

      Sitting there in shock I could not believe my ears. Did my teacher really say twelve paragraphs? A twelve paragraph essay about our responsibilities as Christians to God and man! In my mind gears were kicking in and my mind was swirling with ideas. I was so anxious and nervous to start. Later that night when I got home I started right away.Throughout my intense researching I found so many exciting verses in the Bible. Researching I realized the Ten Commandments were perfect for my essay, because they are God’s laws and show us how to honor and glorify Him and how to love others. Notably the Ten Commandments were just right for all the information I needed to learn what my Christian responsibilities were.

      As Christians we have many responsibilities to our God and honoring and glorifying God is part of them. Lovingly God formed us in His image for His own glory. We were created to faithfully honor and glorify God. We do this when we show God our love for Him, for the Bible speaks, “ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” Matthew 22:37. Honoring God shows our love to Him. Living and following the Ten Commandments, which are God’s own laws is a way to show our love for Him.

      Is God first in your life? The first two Commandments in Exodus 20tell us, “You shall have no other God before Me”, and “Do not worship false idols”. Meaning do not worship a person or thing, only worship God. Within we may believe we do not bow down and worship idols.However, we may love something more significantly than God, which iswrong and it may become to valuable in our life. Perhaps more importantthan God. Our responsibility as a Christian is to be positive there is nothing more treasured than Christ in our hearts, our minds, and our actions. We should not worship anything before God.

      Do you watch the words that travel out of your mouth? The third Commandment in Exodus 20:7 teaches us, “Do not take the Lords name in vain”. Using the Lords name in vain is dishonoring to God nothonoring to Him. For instance you may be foolishly playing around with your friends and used Christ’s name disrespectfully. Inwardly your thoughts may have been, “It is just this once it will not hurt anybody.”However you actually did curse God, did dishonor God, and did sin. Colossians 6 informs us, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one”. Whenspeaking we need to be responsible and consider every word we use tocommunicate with, because we want our words to glorify God.

      Do you take a day to relax? Following the fourth Commandment,which instructs us, “Keep the Sabbath day holy”, is another way we can honor God. The Sabbath day, which most people honor on Sunday, is the day our mighty God rested after forming and creating this huge world and all that is in it. Honestly God did not need to rest, because He is God. Our Lord rested only to prove to us we need to rest our tired bodies, minds, and actions after a long week of living in the world. Keeping the Sabbath day holy is necessary, just remember to take a day to relax, forget about all the worries of the world and worship God. As Christians it is our responsibility to keep the body and mind God gave us healthy.

      As a Christian we need to be faithful in our responsibilities to watch our speech, take a day to relax and most important, keep God first in are life. So simple. Yet it means so much to God, because we were made to glorify Him. We want following God and His Commandments to becomea habit, which will help us to be responsible in honoring and glorifying God.    

      As a Christian honoring and worshiping God is our duty, however we also have a responsibility to lovingly respect others, because the Bible commands us to. Informing us the Bible commands, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” Matthew 22:39-40. The Bible also instructs us, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving to one a another even as God in Christ forgave you” Ephesians 4:32. Do you see? We are requiredto love one another, and forgive one another as Christ, because Jesus did for us. Giving glory to God as we do so.  

      Do you get angry? The sixth commandment of the Bible reads, “You shall not murder” Exodus 2:13. The story of Cain and Abel shows us murder comes from anger and anger comes from the heart. In our life someone may do something to make us mad and angry. If we do notforgive them it will build up inside. Thinking nasty thoughts about this person we may start to want to take revenge on them. It could even lead to thinking of murder. The Bible tells us, “Love your enemies, bless those who cures you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” Matthew 5:44. As a Christian we have the responsibility to forgive others.

      Do you always speak the truth? Lying may seem like a little crumb on the floor, not that big of a deal. However lying is as big as ahippopotamus before God. The Bible commands us in Exodus 22:16, “You shall not bare false witness against your neighbors”. Telling a fib about some one or to some one is wrong whether it’s over a crumb, a cookie, or a hippopotamus. Lying is lying! It hurts not just God but others around us and even our selves. Our responsibility as a Christian is to show respect to God and to others by doing our best, no mater what, to tell the truth.

         Do you ever wish you had all the cool stuff your friends have? Well the

Bible commands in Exodus 20:17, “You shall not covet”. Meaning you shall not want everything you see others have. How do we do this? The Bible shows us through Psalms 16:17, “ I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name of the Lord”. Having a thankful heart for what we have, we will keep are thoughts off what we don’t have. When having a thankful heart and being grateful will show the world we honor God. It is a responsibility of a Christian to have a cheerful attitude about what God gave us and to be glad for others blessings.

         Respectfully and lovingly treating man, which is another way ofshowing honor to God, is our responsibility. Do you get angry, do you covet, and do you lie? I hope you see that this is wrong, because it is doing the opposite of what the Bible tells us to do. Forgiving others, being truthful, and having a thankful heart are ways to love and to show our respect to our neighbors. Honoring God and man should become a habit to work for, because it is our responsibility.

      As I wrap up my twelve-paragraph essay on our Christian responsibilities on how to honor God and love man I am excited to read and share all that I have learned. I thought the Ten Commandments were just right to research, to share, and to learn from. Don’t you? In our life our goal should be to glorify and honor our God, through studying His word and loving our friends, our family, and even our enemies. By being kind to one another, tenderhearted, and forgiving we honor man, byloving the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind we glorify and honor God, which fulfills our Christian responsibilities.