This is the eighth commandment out of the ten that most people are aware of. It is displayed in a lot of courthouses or on plaques that are hung up in churches or in people’s houses as decorative pieces. When the Ten Commandments were given, they were a summation of all the laws of God and each one should be used as a guide to live our lives.

 As a people, we are known for and have a bad reputation for being some of the biggest thieves on the planet and we’ve been committing these wicked acts from biblical times up until the present. Jeremiah 5:26 For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. When tragedies happen in our communities such as, hurricane Katrina or the LA riots, rather than turning to the Lord and seeing how we can fix our situations, there is a rampant amount of stealing going on, from big television sets to the latest entertainment system.

When people think of stealing, they think of the more obvious things like, pick pocketing or breaking into someone’s house and taking their things. It goes without saying that those things constitute stealing and are wrong along with other things like, taking things out of stores without paying for it or taking away things from your job that doesn’t belong to you.

However, a crime that has been on the rise in the last few years is Identity Theft, something that people don’t readily associate with stealing.

When people do things today such as, taking someone else’s social security number and filing a fraudulent tax return to get a refund or use the social security number to open credit cards or to obtain a job, they’re not thinking that what they’re doing is breaking the commandment in Exodus 20:15 Thou shalt not steal. This is a crime that’s been on the rise and almost everyone will know someone who’s been a victim of it. Other examples that people don’t readily associate with stealing are embezzling-which happens a lot in the corporate world and also putting in false claims for insurance money.

The commandments were given to us as a guide on how we should live our lives. Proverbs 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life. The bible will not say things like, Thou shalt not rob a bank, or Thou shalt not take another person’s social security number and use it fraudulently, because these things fall under the guidelines of Thou Shalt Not Steal.

The doctrine of Jesus Christ teaches us to repent from these things.

Ephesians 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

Some people believe that because they’ve done it for so long and haven’t got caught that they will continue to get away with it.

People should rethink that because; The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3

And we will also have to answer for everything that we’ve done.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 – 14 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.