On the 10th day of Christmas...

On the tenth day of Christmas, the Father gave to all --
  rules to guide our lives,
  the fruits of the Spirit, 
  the beatitudes of Christ,
  rest from our duties,
  the days of creation,
  the miracle of the loaves,
  the truth of the Gospels,
  prayers at Gethsemane,
  the veil torn in two, 
  and His Son to save us from our sins. 

After the LORD worked through Moses to free the Israelites from slavery, He gave Moses the 10 Commandments to help guide their lives.

Exodus 20 NASB -- The Ten Commandments 

Then God spoke all these words, saying, 
² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 
³ “You shall have no other gods before Me. 
⁴ “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. ⁵ You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, ⁶ but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 
⁷ “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. 
⁸ “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. 
¹² “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you. 
¹³ “You shall not murder. 
¹⁴ “You shall not commit adultery.
¹⁵ “You shall not steal. 
¹⁶ “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 
¹⁷ “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Over time I've learned that the first 4 commandments govern our relationship with the LORD, and the last 6 commandments govern our relationship with other people.    A far more detailed discussion of the 10 commandments can be found in Matthew Henry's Commentary, which is apparently part of the public domain.

God wants us to give Him all of ourselves and the first 4 commandments tell us what He desires of us to strive toward this goal.  Interestingly, when I confessed that I don't always rest on the Sabbath, I admitted that I'm falling short of honoring the 4th commandment.  This is something I often bring before the LORD, and am praying that one day the Sabbath will be nothing but rest for me, in the way that the LORD intends it for me.

The last 6 commandments are for our relationship with other people.  God wants us to love others, and by honoring the call of the last 6 commandments that helps us to treat others as God desires.    Jesus even emphasized, perhaps summarized, the commandments in Matthew 22. 

Matthew 22:35-40 NASB

³⁵ One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the great and foremost commandment. ³⁹ The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

It's very simple:

LOVE God.
LOVE people.

Today, friend, if you are struggling to love someone as God desires, I pray that the LORD will give you the guidance, wisdom, and strength to handle that relationship in a way that honors Him.  If you are struggling to honor God in some area of your life, I pray that you would be reminded to seek Him every time you feel tempted to stray, that you would ask Him for strength, and that you would walk victorious away from temptation. If, friend, you have been hurt by Christians in the past, I pray that you would find healing for that hurt.  I pray that  you would be loved on by God, or one of His children, so that you can experience healing of that hurt.  I pray that you would feel the extraordinary love of the One True God, and be drawn to Him into a place of worship He's personally selected specifically for you.

*Graphic at beginning of page is from the website The Graphics Fairy.  All credit for the lovely image belongs to them.