Ten Commandments
6. Do Not Kill

You shall not murder. _{(Exodus 20:13)}

This is the one commandment that most people seem to agree with - killing is wrong. But life in the twenty-first century has become cheap.

In the United Kingdom we have growing gun and knife cultures, often within gangs who want power within their community. Domestic violence levels are increasing.

Countries such as Somalia are in the grip of civil war, where different factions fight each other as they try and gain a bigger share of power. Iraq was subjected to a very harsh regime under Sadaam Hussain. Since the Iraq war many more innocent people have continued to be killed as rival factions take opposition to the new regime and turn to violence as they battle for power.

The Bible shows us that there is no place for violence and murder in God's Kingdom. At no point does God show violence in a positive way; at best some wars are necessary to restore the overall balance of order in the world. At a personal level violence in relationships is never shown to be good.

Rather, God paints a picture that we should be compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love, faithful and forgiving. God himself demonstrates these qualities as he responds to our shortcomings time and time again.

This command is not simply a statement that killing is wrong; but a warning about anger, hatred and other negative emotions that can all too easily get out of control leading to violence and possibly killing. Therefore, we should seek out the positive characteristics of love, forgiveness, caring etc.

It's not always easy when we feel that we have been wronged, we like people to know and often react in a bad way.

It is wise to resolve "anger" situations quickly and lovingly. As we are commanded elsewhere we must love our neighbours. Remember that anger is negative and rarely achieves good.

A great example of how we should respond is the mother of Anthony Walker, who was murdered. She has been able to show compassion and trust in God, expressed in her quote "Hate killed my son, so why should I be a victim too". She knew that harbouring hate would not improve her situation. All too often we find that anger, hate and negative feelings spiral out of control; sometimes we need to offer forgiveness even when it does not seem deserved.