Life involves relationships. Persons are fully human only when in relationship with other human beings. A truly isolated person cannot survive. For Christians, the model of relationship found in the Bible is “Covenant.” Almost every story in the Bible is about covenant-making, covenant-keeping or covenant-breaking.

A great biblical teacher of the early part of the 20th Century put it this way:

"True community does not come into being because people have feelings for each other (though that is required too), but rather on two accounts: all of them have to stand in a living, reciprocal relationship to a single living center, and they have to stand in a living reciprocal relationship to one another."  (Martin Buber, I and Thou, p.94)

The “living center” to which Buber refers is of course God. What does it mean to be in relationship with God? How does my relationship with God inform my relationship with other people? The Ten Commandments answer these fundamental questions. They are based on the promise of everlasting life that God makes to us through his Son, Jesus Christ. This divine promise results in communion with Him, and leads to a community generated by the promises we make to one another. When we keep those promises, God’s blessing flows freely in the midst of the people, and transforms an anonymous crowd into a loving family.