The First Commandment of God's Law
“I am the Lord your God; let there be no other gods for you besides Me.”
By this commandment the Lord God points man to Himself as the Source of all good things and as the Guide of all man's actions. Following this first commandment, man should strive to know God and direct his actions to the glory of His name. The Lord Jesus Christ pointed to this guiding principle in our intentions when He taught us to pray: “Hallowed be Thy name!”
Thus, the first commandment gives direction to man's mental and volitional activity and thereby lays the foundation of his life. That is why this commandment occupies the primary place among the other commandments. It directs man's spiritual gaze toward God and tells him: let the Lord be the first object of your thoughts and aspirations. Consider knowing God the most precious knowledge, His will the highest authority, and serving Him your life's calling. The first commandment reveals all the superiority of the Ten Commandments over the legislations of other peoples, both ancient and modern, in that it lays faith as the foundation of morality and life. Experience shows that morality can be built only on religious soil, because without God's authority, all human principles prove conditional, shaky, and unconvincing. This is attested by the history of the development of Stoicism, Epicureanism, the teaching of Pythagoras, and modern ethical systems such as Kant's ethics.
In our time, the first commandment is as relevant as many thousands of years ago. Modern man is overloaded with all kinds of knowledge, yet often has only the dimmest notion of God and His participation in his life. Alienation of man from God deprives his mind of the necessary spiritual knowledge and makes his life crooked and vain. How can one know God? — By thoughtful reading of Holy Scripture, reflection on God, on His closeness and love for us, reflection on the purpose of our life. Reading patristic books and other Orthodox religious literature, prayer at home and in church, participation in spiritual conversations contribute to knowing God. At the same time, knowing God should not be limited to abstract mental work alone but should penetrate deeply into the heart and be reflected in our life, shining in all our words and actions.
Thus, the first commandment in a certain sense includes the other commandments. The subsequent commandments more specifically reveal the meaning of the first.
Sins against the first commandment are neglect of the work of knowing God and coldness toward Him, which give rise to mental sins: atheism, polytheism, unbelief, agnosticism, superstition, renunciation of faith, despair, and deviation into heresy. It is harder to free oneself from mental sins than from sinful deeds; that is why the Church Fathers always defended the purity of faith with such energy and self-sacrifice.