Click HERE to view Rev. Jimmie Scott’s guided meditation during the service.
So this guy was really unhappy because he lost his favorite hat. And instead of going and buying a new one, he decided to go swipe one from the vestibule at church. And so he gets there, and he tries to get to the vestibule, but he’s intercepted by an usher, who takes him to a pew. And he’s got to sit there and listen to the entire service, and especially the sermon on the Ten Commandments.
After the service, the guy goes up to the priest, and says, “Father, that was absolutely fabulous. I want to thank you for saving my soul today. You know, I listened to the Ten Commandments and then I decided, you know, to not steal because my heart was on stealing someone else’s hat.”
And then the priest says, “So you mean the commandment, ‘Thou shall not steal’ changed your mind?”
He said, “No, the one about adultery did, because as soon as you said that, I remember where I left my hat.” [Congregants laugh] Okay … [Laughs]
So, the seventh commandment is THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY. And so it’s pretty obvious and clear that adultery is not a good thing to do. It violates the marriage covenant and commitment; It breaks trust; it damages relationships, breaks up families. I mean it causes a lot of hurt and pain.
You know when you think about life, life is energy. All of life is energy. And one of the aspects of life’s energies is our sexual energy. Sexual energy is powerful energy; it is a powerful, attracting force — so powerful that it can create life. It is powerful! And this commandment is really about — it’s a warning to not misuse our sexual energy.
And so, I’ve known a couple of people in my life who were incorrigible flirts: flirted with anybody, everybody, all day, all the time. And thinking, “Oh, I’m just putting it out there; having a little bit of fun!”
But sometimes there could be misunderstandings and hurt feelings. And sometimes impressions of the individual may not be the greatest coming across, maybe … in the extreme, as a little creepy [congregants laugh] or, you know, just loose or whatever it is. Not going that well. There’s nothing wrong with flirting. Flirting is a good thing; sex is a good thing! These are great gifts from God! But there are times — when we misuse it — that it creates confusion and hurt and pain and emptiness, rather than the happiness and joy and fulfillment that we are all seeking.
Today is the fourth of our five-week series on the Ten Commandments, inspired by the 1944 book entitled, Prosperity’s Ten Commandments by Reverend Georgiana Tree West. And she really says that these are the fundamental laws for living. They’re the cardinal laws.
And right at face literal value, they have absolute benefit, but there’s even a deeper and more profound meaning that teaches us. And as we understand these laws on a deeper level and apply them, they really open up our lives to the fullness and the flow of God’s goodness in our lives.
Week #1 is that you shall have no other gods before me. And that’s saying that God is our source. That God is our source, and God should be our priority: the top value and the thing that we seek the most in life is a greater connection and awareness of God. Because God is the source of all the abundance and unlimited good in life. And we have a connection to that, but we’ve got to build that connection.
And then the second one is you should make no graven images or idols to worship. That even though we know God is our source and our priorities, sometimes we give power to money, thinking that’s going to be the answer to everything. Again, nothing wrong with money, but sometimes when we have it overshadow our relationship and closeness with God — or people’s approval or power or status; whatever it is — we can create graven images. It pulls us away from the connection of our fullness of God’s abundance.
The third commandment is do not use the Lord’s name in vain. And it really illustrates the power of the spoken word. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light! And we speak our lives and our experience into existence through the power of our word. And the most important word to be careful of is what we attach our “I AM” to. Our “I AM” — that is the divine in ourselves. And saying things like “I am poor” or “I am a hot mess” is not the best way to reflect the presence of God in us and the kind of life that we want to live.
The fourth was to keep the sabbath. That rest is an important part of renewal: of our minds, of our bodies, of our spirits. And as we do our work, we have to just rest and just give it to God. Rest is an important part of the creative process.
Last week we looked at honoring our mother and father. That is the first relationship that we have. And it is, in some ways, the basis and influences all the other relationships. When you think about our parents, they are the vehicles through which we came into this physical earthly experience. They really gave us the foundation for our lives and for us to build upon. So, it’s important to honor them.
And then last week we also did thou shalt not kill. And so, what that one is saying — beyond the obvious — is don’t kill the things that flow in your life. I saw a poster once and it said, “Withholding love kills.” And so, this is about getting things in circulation; about opening our heart to love everyone, including the people that we have a little bit of struggle with. To send them love, to open our hearts that big. Because that will enliven our lives. And for us to tithe: to create that level of circulation in our lives, that enlivens and attracts more good into our lives. Serving others is a powerful way to expand our level of joy and our feeling of connection.
Today we’re going to look at Commandments 7 and 8: THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY and THOU SHALT NOT STEAL.
Now the seventh commandment is not only a commandment, I think it is a spiritual law that is vital and important to us. And it is saying: Don’t adulterate your energy. To adulterate means to misuse, to degrade, to make impure. I mean, to all these different ways for us to corrupt: don’t corrupt our spiritual energy by directing it in ways that aren’t healthy and positive and supporting for us.
Because as we adulterate or misuse our energy, what happens is we create energy leaks in our lives, sometimes unknowingly. I think an example of an energy leak would be like: imagine you’re driving your car in a certain direction. And while you’re driving toward that destination, someone is siphoning gas out of your car. And it sounds kind of silly, but the truth is we do that all the time. There are ways we are trying to move towards something else, but we’re having energy being leaked, or diverted, or dissipated, and we’re not able to fulfill the things that we want to create in our lives.
Here are some common ways that we leak energy. Besides spiritually, you know, sometimes we leak energy by overindulging and gossiping and judging. Gossiping and judging leaks our spiritual energy. A lack of having boundaries leaks our energy. How many people have ever said yes when you really wanted to say no? Or having a challenge with that? When we do that, we’re leaking spiritual energy. When we put up with and let bad behavior just slide, and not speak up and not share our truth. When we’re overeating or overspending, or hoarding, or having a lot of clutter. All these things are leaking spiritual energy in the opposite direction of where we want to go and what we want to create in our lives.
So, I ask you: where in your life would you say that you’re leaking energy? That you might not be using your energy in the most positive and effective way for the direction and for the kind of life that you want to create and experience? Is there anything you’re doing in your life that you know that — at a soul level — it is not the right thing for you to be doing? Or where in your life do you feel that you absolutely know you could use your energy in a greater and more effective and positive way?
I’m sure we’ve all had the experience: you ever like, when all your energy is scattered? You feel distracted, you know? And then we wonder and we don’t kind of understand why. And it’s because sometimes we’re leaking energy and we don’t even realize it.
And so we’re going to look, today, at some ways we can stop the leaking of our energy and how we can choose to not misuse or adulterate our spiritual energy and power.
And in a word I would say that the key to stop leaking energy is clarity. To get clear on how you actually want to invest and utilize your spiritual energy. So here’s some ways.
Number one is to get clear about what you want. I mean, what are your goals? What are your dreams? What is your vision? What direction would you like your life to take? What shape would you like it to take? You could ask anybody, “Hey, what do you want?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know.”
We could say, “I don’t want this. I don’t want that. I don’t want this.” But sometimes we are not able to clearly say, “This is what I want my life to look like. This is kind of the kind of person that I want to be.” Sometimes we are not clear. And I think we should invest some energy to think about how we want to share our energy and express and utilize the energy of life that we have been given.
When Jesus said, “Ask and you shall receive,” you know what the asking is? It’s about being clear. So, what is it that you want? How do you want to channel your energy? What are you trying to create? What do you want to experience? What do you want to achieve?
Second one is to establish clear boundaries. Sometimes we don’t have great boundaries in a lot of different ways. Sometimes we have relationships that are kind of dangling there, you know; we don’t even know if we like the person. But they’re kind of there. And sometimes we’ve got to get clear, and end relationships that aren’t serving us or clarify certain ones.
You know on those dating sites that they’ve got those little categories: you know, single, divorced, married. Sometimes people put in there, “It’s complicated.” [Laughs with congregants] You got any complicated relationships out there the need to set some boundaries and some clarity with? Because it drains energy. Relationships drain energy when they are not clear.
In the book of Job it says, “Decide upon a thing and it will be established for you, and the light of God will shine on your path.” I think we don’t realize how important it is to choose; how important it’s to decide; how important it is to get clear.
So my question for you is: Where in your life do you need to get clear? Because that is probably the single greatest thing that will stop the energy leaks and us misusing the life energy that God has given us.
The third one is kind of related to it. It’s: learn to say no. I bet you every one of us, there are a couple areas in our lives right now: “Man, I wish I’d said no!” Practice your No’s! It’s very empowering. Not easy sometimes when we get into certain patterns with certain people, but it’s an important thing to work on.
Another one is take care of yourself. Because if you want a better life, you’re got to have a better you, and that means to take care of you. You know, are you nurturing yourself? Are you taking time for self-care? Because the better you take care of you, the better you utilize your own energy.
And then the final one is don’t worry about other people are saying, you know; just keep working on you.
Marcus Aurelius said this. He said, “How much time he gains who does not look at what his neighbor is saying or doing or thinking, but only at what he does himself to make it just and holy.” So, what he’s saying is: that individual who chooses not to look at his neighbor — and think of everything that other people are saying — gains so much time. And the best thing to do is to invest in how you live in your life; is to invest on making you better. That is a powerful and important thing. The better we channel our energy towards who we are and becoming a better person, the more effective we will utilize our energy.
So here are two things that underlie those five things that we need to do daily:
And that is meditation — to quiet the mind; to be still; to immerse our minds in the mind of God — will make all those five easier and better and more effective. And the other one is journaling on a regular basis.
You know, sometimes journaling will help us realize those areas that we didn’t realize that we were leaking energy in. Sometimes, in journaling, we can really find out: What is it that I really want? Sometimes we are so into giving and caring about other people think, we don’t even realize what we want. And sometimes a bit of journaling can help us unearth some of the deeper desires that we’ve always had, that we haven’t given ourselves permission to bring forth and live in our lives.
You know, it’s important for us to make a decision. Do I want to invest my energy in the life that I want to create? Or am I going to keep leaking energy from the life that I desire? You know, this commandment is simple. It’s about getting clear about your energy — all of your energy: sexual energy, your life energy, all of the energy in your life. It’s to get clear on how you want to use it.
“I am fully responsible for my energy.”
Together: [with congregation] “I am fully responsible for my energy.”
“I use my energy positively and only towards my highest good.”
[With congregation]: “I use my energy positively and only towards my highest good.”
Let’s say that again: [with congregation] “I use my energy positively and only towards my highest good.”
Amen. So that’s Commandment 7.
Commandment 8 is THOU SHALT NOT STEAL. So stealing; I mean, it’s pretty obvious again with this. Don’t take other people’s stuff! Don’t take stuff that doesn’t belong to you! Respect other people. I mean, it is very, very simple.
So, I want you to think, for a bit, in a mindset of someone who’s thinking of stealing or does steal. What kind of thoughts are going on behind it that makes that stealing possible?
And the first one is, at some level, a believing that there just isn’t enough. “There’s just not enough! So I have to steal to be able to make it.”
Second one is that the belief that I can’t do it on my own. “I can’t get that!” And so, stealing is a part of a belief that I’m just not capable of doing that on my own.
The third one is: it’s a nice way to look for an easy way out. “I don’t have to do the work; I can just take somebody else’s.”
And then the last one: it is a way to get even when you think life is unfair. “My life’s unfair. It’s unfair anyway, so me just taking a little thing here and there, it’s no big deal, you know?”
And so, Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essay – he wrote an essay called “Compensation” — and he said this. He said, “Each person will be compensated in the manner to which they have contributed. In labor and in life, there can be no cheating. The thief steals from himself. The swindler swindles himself.”
And what he’s really talking about is that life is governed by spiritual laws: the Laws of Cause and Effect; the Law of Attraction; the Law of Giving and Receiving; the Law of Sowing and Reaping; and the Law of Compensation. And he’s saying that we get in life what we give: we reap what we sow. He’s just saying that these are laws.
And here’s what Georgiana says. She says, “Stealing is an endeavor to try to get something for nothing. And under the Law of Compensation, this is impossible. Life functioning under the Law of Mind demands that we pay for what we get, and it is correspondingly true that we get what we pay for.”
And so, this idea about “Thou shalt not steal” is: Don’t try to get something for nothing. Work with the spiritual laws and begin to contribute to get that flow of goodness in your life.
And the first way to do that that we could do is increase our value and put more good into the world. The more we show people more value, the more we show people more good — like doing more than we’re paid for; going the extra mile; being that helpful — that stuff gets things moving in our lives. You don’t have to steal. We just work with the law and we will attract.
Second one is expand your circle. Napoleon Hill, in his book, Think and Grow Rich, I believe, said to somebody who was saying, “What do I do? I don’t have a job.” He said, “Within a five-mile radius, go to every single one of those stores; introduce yourself to those people; and offer any way that you could help them. Any good that you could do. And if there isn’t, just drop in and say ‘Hi’ every now and then.”
And so, not only did he attract a job; he’d made new friends. He kind of felt more of a sense of belonging, a sense of community. Because he put it out there and expanded his circle, he didn’t just have a job; he had a community. He developed friendships. He felt a greater sense of purpose, because he put it out there.
And then the third one is, Fill your mind with success. Think positive thoughts. Have a positive attitude. We all know that! The more we put that in our minds, the more we will attract that good.
And the fourth one is to do the work. To do the work!
In the book of James it says, “For as the body is dead without the soul, so faith without works is dead.” And what he is saying is that, when you don’t put work into faith, that you cannot reap the benefits. When you don’t put work into the spiritual Law of Attraction and Receiving, you’re not going to receive the benefit. He said a lack of work shows someone that’s unwilling to work; unwilling to change and transform. Not doing the work literally robs ourselves of the expansion of our consciousness; the development of our soul; the fulfillment of our higher purpose. We need to do the work for these things to start moving.
To know a spiritual law is fine; to live and demonstrate it is a whole different experience. And that is the thing we need to do.
These guys decide to rob a bank. And one of the guys’ mask drops and he thinks he’s been seen. He put it on quickly and then, out of his concern, he went to the first hostage that they had, and he said to the guy, “Did you see anything?”
And the guy said, “Well, yeah; like, I’m so close right here.” [Makes shooting noise: “Pew!”] Shoots him.
Then he goes to the second guy. He said, “Did you see anything?”
The guy says, “No; I didn’t see a thing. But my wife, she doesn’t miss a thing.” [Congregants laugh]
And he said, “Your wife? Where’s your wife? Show me your wife.”
And the guy says, “Well, she’s at home, but I can call her and she’ll be here in five minutes.” [Congregants laugh]
Life is energy. Our bodies are energy. Our words, our thoughts, our actions are all energy. DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY and DO NOT STEAL is warning us to not misuse our energy.
We have been given an incredible, spiritual, creative energy and it’s saying – it’s warning us – do not misuse it. Do not adulterate your energy and have your energy leak from you. But get clearer and intentional where you want to focus your energy. Know where you want to focus, and begin to focus it in that direction … especially focusing on God and focusing on the good that you desire to create in your life.
And don’t steal. Don’t try to get something for nothing. Put it into action. Work with the spiritual law. And the more we put it out there — our positivity and the possibilities — the more and more life will compensate us and compensate us abundantly.
And those are the messages from this week’s Commandments 7 and 8. God bless you all.