The 10 Commandments ala The Law of Attraction
The Secret or the Law of Attraction teaches that like attracts like. This means that if we something good then we must use positive language to express our desires or wishes rather than negative language.
Hence, if we want to improve our relationship with our spouse, we should pray, “God, help me focus on my spouse’s goodness”, rather than, “God, help me not see my spouse’s negative habits.”
After reading The Secret and internalizing the principle of the Law of Attraction, I now attempt to rewrite the Ten Commandments in positive language rather than the many negative nuances. What authority do I have to do so? I’m taking the lead from Jesus.
He gave us two Commandments which are a summary of the Ten Commandments and they are entirely in positive language. Here is my version of the Ten Commandments taken from Exodus 20:1-17.
1. I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of Eygpt to live a free, fulfilling life. I shall be your only God. You shall only create My image in carvings or any other likeness. You shall bow down and serve Me only. I act with faithful love towards thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
2. You shall use My name for good purposes only.
3. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. You shall rest on the seventh day as it will rejuvenate you spiritually and physically to lead a more productive week ahead.
4. Honor your father and mother so that you may live long in the land Yahweh your God is giving you.
5. You shall treat all human life from conception as sacred.
6. You will respect the person of the opposite gender and treat them in an edifying way.
8. You shall respect the property of others and work to get your own.
9. You shall always give true evidence for your neighbor.
10. You will guard your neighbor’s house, respect his wife, servant, ox, donkey or any of your neighbor’s possessions.
Wonder why God used negative language to impart the Ten Commandments? Post your reasons below.
August 10th, 2008 at 13:06
What a lovely affirmative translation of the 10 commandments that anyone from any religion can use well.
And what a great question — why the commandments were originally so negatively offered. I’m not sure I can answer that, except to say that it seems the God of the Old Testament often was put forth as one that commanded us what not to do and that put fear in our hearts. However, the Hebrew word for fear (Yirah) also means awe. Fear and awe are on opposite sides of the same continuum. Maybe its the same for “you shall” and “you shall not.” And, of course, whether or not the Torah, or Old Testament, which is where the 10 commandments are found, is actually written by God or a translation of what happend and what was said offered by human hand makes a big difference in how we read it. Maybe the way human’s heard what God said was in the negative but God’s words were in the affirmative, just as you have offered them.