FAITHteen | Issue #19

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From Bishop Mengeling

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Sacred Stuff
By Brandon Jubar

If you don’t shoplift, swipe supplies from school, or otherwise steal anything, are you okay with God? Is the rule against stealing limited to taking something that doesn’t belong to you, or is there more to it than that? What about neglecting to take care of something that you are responsible for?

Once again, we need to look a bit deeper into this biblical passage in order to understand it more fully. Being told not to steal may seem like a statement of common sense, but it’s not so clear when we look beyond ourselves to the world around us.

“You shall not steal.”
(Exodus 20:15)

Stealing doesn’t only refer to the taking of someone else’s property. My dictionary tells me that “steal” can also mean, “to use for one’s own advantage and without consent by the originator.” What this means to us is that we are stealing when we take advantage of something, or misuse it in some way, without the “originator” giving us permission. This is interesting because everything in the universe – yes, everything – was created by God. There is nothing at all that does not come from him. He is the Creator, and the “originator” of it all. So whenever we take advantage of creation for our own benefit, we may just be stealing from God.

“God blessed them, saying: ‘Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.’”
(Genesis 1:28)

This passage is very important for us as we go about our lives, because in a way, everything is sacred. The birds and animals, the plants and trees, the hills and valleys, the rivers and oceans – all of it is sacred. Even the stuff that we own – our CDs and DVDs, our clothes and our toys – comes from God.

God gave us the world and everything in it, but he expects us to care for it. He did not say, “Kill all the fish, destroy all the birds and make extinct the living things that move on the earth.” He told us to subdue it and have dominion over it. He instructed us to rule it and care for it, not mistreat it and ruin it.

Let's not steal from God. Let's take care of our earth and all of God's creatures. it's the least we can do for the Father who has entrusted us with all of his sacred stuff.

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