We continue today in our series on the Living the Ten Commandments. Today we come to the third instruction which teaches us: Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord is very serious when his name is used or attached to something or someone. When God’s name is honored so is everyone and everything else.

As you have already probably observed the first four commandments deal with our relationship primarily with God. These are vertical. They are directed upward. They deal with our respect and reverence for the living God. However, these vertical commandments dealing with our reverence for God directly affect our horizontal relationships with our world and neighbors. As Dr. William Barclay writes: "It demands reverence for God and respect for mankind." These two go hand-in-han…