Explore how the Ten Commandments—reframed through the lens of Jesus’ Great Commandment—serve as a foundation for social-emotional and spiritual formation in Catholic classrooms.
What if the Ten Commandments became more than rules—but a roadmap for how students love, speak, and act every day? Dive into the Love in Action toolkit and discover engaging resources designed to help you bring faith, character, and connection into every corner of your classroom.
This toolkit equips educators with practical, meaningful resources to help students live out the Ten Commandments through the lens of Jesus’ call to love.
Download, explore, and start building a classroom culture rooted in truth, respect, and compassion!
Poster | Shift thinking around the Ten Commandments as a list of rules, to a set of guidelines students can apply to model Christ's design for loving one another.
This poster reframes the Ten Commandments into positive, actionable statements students can understand and apply. It shifts the focus from rules to relationships—showing students what it looks like to live with kindness, honesty, and respect.
Keep it up, point to it often, and use it to connect the dots between faith and everyday moments; helping students choose respect, honesty, and kindness on repeat.
Available in multiple size options to fit for your classroom:
8x10
11x17
16x20
17x22 (4 letter-sized printed and taped together)
Morning Prayer Reflections | Start the day by focusing on one commandment and inviting students to reflect on how it relates to their relationships with God and others.
Centered on the Ten Commandments, Morning Prayer Reflections help students connect faith to their everyday actions. Each reflection includes a positive framing of the commandment, a short, age-appropriate teaching, a student reflection question, and a closing prayer.
Teachers can use this as part of their morning routine or opening prayer time; just read through each section, invite a few students to share, and guide the class in the closing prayer. You’ll help students start their day with purpose, kindness, and a clear focus on how to live out their faith.
Don't forget to download our Morning Reflections companion deck! All the same content, in an easy-to-use slide deck style format.
Role Plays to Live the Ten Commandments | Use real-life scenarios to help students practice peacemaking, honesty, and empathy—then connect those behaviors to specific commandments.
Designed to get students thinking, talking, and practicing, this resource brings the Ten Commandments to life through interactive role plays and discussion. Students engage with real-world scenarios that challenge them to respond with empathy, honesty, and respect.
Teachers begin with a short opening prayer and set the context, then divide students into small groups to act out or discuss assigned scenarios. Each group considers two outcomes: one without the Commandment and one that reflects it in action. After each role play, guide a class discussion using the provided reflection questions to connect behaviors back to specific Commandments.
Wrap up with a short summary and closing prayer to reinforce that the Commandments are not just rules, but a way to love God and others in everyday moments.
Friendzy Daily Check-in Tool | Teach students to name their emotions and reflect on how those feelings may influence their actions. This builds empathy and moral awareness.
The Friendzy Daily Check-In Tool helps students slow down and check in with what’s going on inside so it doesn’t spill out sideways later. By naming emotions and reflecting on how they influence behavior, students build empathy, self-awareness, and better choices.
This isn’t about fixing emotions—it’s about noticing them. When teachers model that process, students learn that feelings come and go, and they have the power to choose their response. The result? A calmer classroom, stronger connections, and students who are better equipped to handle whatever the day brings.
Use it daily in whatever format fits your classroom: print, desktop, poster, or slides. Guide students through a quick moment to identify how they’re feeling and how they want to respond.
Restorative Conversation Guide | When a student breaks a rule, guide them to reflect not just on what they did wrong, but whom they may have hurt; and how to make it right.
This resource helps you turn “uh-oh” moments into “let’s grow” moments. The Restorative Conversations Guide gives teachers a clear, simple way to walk students through what happened, who was impacted, and how to make it right.
Use the guided questions during behavior adjusting conversations to move beyond punishment and into reflection. Students will start to connect their choices to the Ten Commandments in student-friendly language—seeing them not just as rules, but as a way to love others well.
Close with a short prayer to reset and refocus. Over time, this builds a classroom where students take ownership, practice empathy, and learn how to repair relationships; not just avoid consequences.
By: Jim King | Saints & Scholars Consulting
Growing up, part of my biggest memories of the Ten Commandments was largely created through the movie images of Charlton Heston’s wild hair and bushy beard. My mind’s eye goes to scenes of terrible plagues, pillars of fire, and a Hollywood booming voice of God pronouncing a series of threatening “Thou shall not’s.” They were very ominous depictions of a dangerous and wrathful God that generated emotions of not only dread and fear but shame. The Commandments always left me with feelings of an unhealthy shame - what a terrible disappointment I must be to God. So frankly, the Ten Commandments and emotional health are not two concepts I would have pinned together. Yet, as I’ve grown in faith and understanding, it’s interesting how God’s truth gets revealed.
The Father saw how literal we all were in comprehending His gift of the Ten Commandments (and more) and used the teachings of His Son to open our eyes. In the Gospels, Jesus shows us how we are to live. Subsequently, Jesus explains how our lives should demonstrate the deeper call of Ten Commandments for us to love both God and one another.
When asked which Commandment in the Law is the greatest, Jesus responded with a clarification of the entire Ten Commandments:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. […] And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:37–40)
This Great Command, as we know it, is not a reduction of the Commandments, but an amplification of what it truly means to follow them with intentionality. This intentionality is where we see Jesus uncovering the full meaning of what God intended for us through the Ten Commandments. We are familiar with the story of the good man who comes to Jesus.
“A man ran up to (Jesus) and fell on his knees before him. ‘Good teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ … Jesus answered. ‘… You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal...’ ‘Teacher,’ he declared, ‘all these I have kept since I was a boy’ ” (Mark 10: 17-20.)
Jesus spots that the man has lived the overt interpretation of the Commandments. Jesus calls him to follow the Commandments through “love.” This love for his neighbors is a deeper and harder way than the literal interpretation. Not killing, stealing from, or lying about one’s neighbor can be less demanding than taking action to love them. Jesus points out how to the man how to better love his neighbor and the man is instantly overtaken with the realization of the deeper meaning.
Jesus looked at him and loved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ he said. ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth” (Mark 10: 21-22.)
An interesting Examination of Conscience offers a phrasing of the Ten Commandments that aligns beautifully with the Great Commandment. This reframing considers “do’s” instead of ‘do not’s”
1. We honor God as Creator. We praise him and would never put anything else in His place in our lives.
2. We always show reverence and honor to God, so would never use his name in a disrespectful way.
3. We remember to worship God by participating at Sunday mass, and through that we give honor to ourselves, as well, by resting, praying, and doing good deeds for others.
4. We respect our parents and their authority. We also give that same respect to those who are given authority over us as long as they protect and care for our good.
5. We respect life as being sacred in all its forms which has dignity and beauty.
6. We respect the family and our part in family life. We respect marriage as being the place for sexual relationship. We respect our own bodies and those of others.
7. We respect the property of others.
8. We respect others by being honest and truthful. We do not gossip or try to harm others’ reputations.
9. We respect our relationships and the relationships of other people.
10. We are satisfied with and are grateful for the gifts which we have been given.
Bring the Ten Commandments to Life School Wide | See how each Commandment aligns with Catholic teaching and supports social, emotional, and character formation in students.
BIO | Jim King - Saints & Scholars Consulting
Dr. Jim King is a seasoned Catholic educator whose career spans from classroom aide to superintendent. He holds both an M.A. and Ph.D. in Catholic educational leadership and has served at national levels with the NCEA and USCCB.
His research focuses on Catholic school leadership and cultivating vibrant Catholic culture in educational communities.
Citations:
Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. (2012). Positive phrasing of the Ten Commandments. In Sacred and safe: 8th grade handouts (8th grade). Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. (Original PDF formerly available at https://www.archgh.org/media/4129/sacred-and-safe-8th-grade-handouts.pdf)
