Exodus 20:13

As a child, I thought the 10 Commandments were simply a set of rules to follow. Then, I discovered I couldn't keep the rules, leading me to Christ for my righteousness. Then, the 10 Commandments no longer condemn, but show us the character of God. As a believer, I can look to these laws to see how to please the Father. For if Christ never once violated these laws, and my desire is to look more like Him, then these laws help me know Him.

You shall not murder.

While surveying, most people really did not have a hard time seeing that an angry heart toward another is truly a muderer's heart. To picture your hands around someone's neck really isn't that far from strangling them. Very early in Scripture we see the deep depravity caused by uncontrolled anger. This frightening glimpse motivates us to deal with our anger. However, is "venting" the way to control anger?

But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;
from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.

When we're told to punch a pillow and pretend it is someone's face, something within tells us that cannot be godly counsel. Yet, somehow we think that angry words spoken about/toward someone are not sinful. Yet, just like Saul's spear, our words can contain poison. Like the severity of attempted murder, we must see that our words, whether they reach the "victim" or not, can be a capital crime.