Christ inspires us by his life to know how to love as well. The Ten Commandments are crucial to the Christian life because they teach us how to love. Love, in this case, is not a romantic love but a self-giving love that always seeks what is best for the other person. Jesus didn’t ask us to respect and honor our neighbor, he asked us to love our neighbor! Note that these two greatest commandments summarize and extend the Ten Commandments. We don’t just respect God by saying good things about him or going to Church on Sundays. Sometimes they might even use the word “love.”īe sure to point out the importance that we place on “love” over “respect” as Christians. Most of the time the students will plug in words like “respect” and “honor” into the commandments. To help students memorize and remember the Ten Commandments try using this word search and crossword puzzle. Rather than asking students to sheepishly come up with explanations for adultery, just provide them with a definition and extend it beyond just married people.Īdultery - voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person andsomeone other than his or her lawful spouse.Ĭovet - to desire wrongfully without due regard for the rights of others If you are introducing the Ten Commandments to kids for the first time there are almost always some students who will not know the meaning of words like adultery and covet. Thanks Shannon! Teaching Ten Commandments Vocabulary to Kids With her permission, I’m sharing it here for you to use as well:ĭownload the Rewrite the Ten Commandments Worksheet Shannon Cardaronella (wife of Marc Cardaronella) sent me a great worksheet that she uses for this Ten Commandments activity. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.ġ0. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.ĩ. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.Ĩ. I am the LORD your God: you shall not have strange gods before me.Ģ. (the traditional Catechetical formula from the Catechism):ġ. For commandments three and four, students can transform the phrasing into negative statements (“You shall not…”). They should replace the “You shall not…” with a positive statement (“You shall…”). Have students work in pairs to rewrite the Ten Commandments in positive language. Scripture is not something we can water down with our own words and interpretations or judge for being written in a certain way. Before introducing the activity, be sure to point out that the wording of the commandments come from God’s infinite wisdom. This Ten Commandments activity asks students to creatively interpret and understand these great laws.Īn important disclaimer: the risk of using this activity is that students lose an appreciation for the Scriptures as the Word of God. They have a place in almost every year’s course. The ten commandments are such an important topic in Catholic religious education curricula.