If we interpret “God” as “goodness”, then we can interpret the ten commandments as requirements to living a good life. For each of the commandments listed below, I reinterpret the commandment and explain why it is a requirement by examining what would necessarily happen to your life if you were to disobey the commandment.

1. I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt not have strange gods before me. TBD.

2. Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. You should be respectful of good things, of goodness, as a sign of appreciation/gratitude. If you don’t appreciate goodness, then you’ll never be happy with it, because you don’t acknowledge that it’s good.

3. Keep the sabbath holy. If you don’t take a day off every once in a while (a week), you will burn out. You need time to relax and relieve stress in order to maintain good work over a long period of time.

4. Honor thy father and mother. If you get in the habit of not respecting authority, then when you are put in a position of authority you’ll assume that your subordinates don’t respect you. And you can’t be a good authority figure without some sense of good faith.

5. Thou shalt not kill. If you kill, then you’ll be forever paranoid that you will be killed. In order to have any sense of safety, you need to not be in a world where murders occur.

6. Thou shalt not commit adultery. If you cheat, you will be forever paranoid that you will be cheated on. In order to have any sense of security in a relationship, you must be in a relationship where cheating (to your knowledge) doesn’t happen.

7. Thou shalt not steal. If you steal, you’ll be paranoid that you will be stolen from. etc, etc.

8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. If you talk smack or lie then you’ll be paranoid that other people are lying or talking smack behind your back. In order to be able to trust people you need to be trustworthy, because you’ll only believe other people (that you have reason to trust) if you know that you can be believed. Trust is the foundation of friendship and relationships.

9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. If you desire other people, you will be paranoid that other people desire your partner, and that your partner desires other people. You’ll never be able to trust anyone around them, and you won’t trust them, and the relationship will erode.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors goods. If you desire other people’s stuff, you get in the habit of not being happy with what you have, and you’ll never be happy. Even if you had that stuff, you would just desire even more stuff. The cycle ends now. Be happy with what you have (as long as it meets your basic needs - but if it doesn’t then I wouldn’t consider want of more to be “coveting your neighbors goods”).