An Old Fashioned Way To Learn The 10 Commandments

photo by evanden

There are gadgets and gizmos to make life more convenient in just about every aspect, but sometimes going with something simple and time-tested trumps all the fancy resources out there. There is one way your children can learn the ten commandments and their order and be sure to learn them well:

Rote memorization.

Ugghh! But that’s so bo-ring! Perhaps, but it doesn’t call for any materials except for having the commandments written down, nor does it require a lot of time. How does less than a minute sound to you?

Here’s what you do:

• Write each commandment down on its own 3x5 index card. The cards are about 46 cents for a pack of 100 in my local Wal-Mart (the economy being what it is and all, the cheaper the better). You’ll find the commandments listed in Deuteronomy 5:7-21 (and in Exodus as well) and can write them as such (using the NIV version):

1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol in any form.
3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
4. Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not give false testimony.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s things.

• Keeping them in correct order, give the cards to your child and ask them to go through them one at a time, reading each commandment out loud.
• When your child reaches the end, repeat the process four more times for a total of five times reciting the commandments out loud.
• Then, put the cards away for the next day.

See? Simple. And effective. We’ve used this method for all kinds of tasks over the years. Memorizing them in a day isn’t the goal as much as internalizing the words. Your child isn’t to memorize the commandments to be able to regurgitate them for a test in two days and then conveniently forget all about them. You have all the time in the world, 30-60 seconds at a time.

Getting down to basics doesn’t have to involve elaborate, time-consuming activity. The Word of God, however, will be firmly implanted in your child’s heart forever, giving him a firm foundation on truths that work.

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