Article July 18, 1959 Issue

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NINTH COMMANDMENT

MELBA NEVADA ADAMS

Comforting indeed is the realization that the imperative "thou shalt not" of the Commandments, prohibiting evil, also implies God's promise to His beloved children. The Decalogue can be thought of as His covenant with the faithful, tenderly assuring them that they shall not be victimized by evil in any guise whatever or betrayed into believing or expressing falsities about themselves or others.

The ninth commandment (Ex. 20:16), "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour," sets forth much more than the admonition not to tell lies about that neighbor. Even to accept lies or to repeat them is to disobey this divine directive and to bear false witness. Anyone yielding to such a temptation would injure and deprive both himself and his neighbor.

The one who strives to see only what God creates, who rejects negative appearances, refuses to entertain hurt feelings, and who responds to an apparent wrong with pure, active love, obeys the ninth commandment and thereby blesses his neighbor and himself.

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