Tuesday, August 21, 2012

The 10 Hardest Teachings of Jesus


Here is the list of what I think are the 10 hardest teachings of Jesus. The Bible is a wonderful guide on how to live. It is primarily a positive text on how to manifest the promises of God, yet alongside these great promises are some expectations on how we should deal with other people. When you go through the list, you will see why I think these are the "hardest" teachings to follow. Also keep in mind that as far as I know, none of these teachings include a "but" clause so as "Christians" we are expected to follow each teaching without an explanation or excuse to the contrary. 

1. Honor Your Father and Mother. Depending on how you were raised, this can either be a simple request or very hard to do. 

2. Accept That There Will Be More Rejoicing in Heaven Over One Sinner Who Repents Than Over 99 Righteous Persons Who Do Not Need To Repent. Sounds unfair but the Bible has more than one parable basically teaching this same message. That the prize goes to the reformed sinner versus the one who has been living right all along. The best example of this is showcased in the parable of the Prodigal Son. 


3. Accept That Everyone Who Exalts Himself Will Be Humbled And He Who Humbles Himself Will Be Exalted. The flesh and the spirit are at war with each other so you cannot exalt yourself in the flesh (hold high regard for yourself in worldly matters) and pretend to be humble at the same time. 

4. Accept That the Last Will Be First and The First Will Be Last. The best example of this is in the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Some workers arrived during the first hour to work and others arrived at the 11th hour and yet the landowner gave everyone equal pay --one denarius. Seems unfair but the bible reminds us that the last will be first and the first will be last. 

4. Love Your Neighbor as Yourself. Sounds feasible, right? If you surround yourself with good people who treat you well, you can learn to love them as much as you love yourself --because let's be honest. Most of our thoughts revolve around ourselves. We are a self-interested bunch. It's not wrong, it's just the way it is. 

5. Love Your Enemies. Now here comes the good hard stuff! Who as a Christian can honestly say they make an effort to "love" their enemy, whatever that means? Well in case you didn't know how to "love" your enemy, the Bible goes on to further explain. 

6. Do Not Judge. First things first, do not judge anyone. Once again, there is no "but" clause in this statement so no one is excluded. It doesn't matter what anybody does, it doesn't matter. Do not judge. 


7. Bless Those Who Curse You. As Christians, we are to bless, or want "happiness and prosperity with life-joy and satisfaction" to those who speak ill of us. Can you believe that!?

8. Forgive Those Who Hurt You. And not just once, but multiple times.  In fact, don't even keep count of offense because no number you reach can null and void this teaching.

9. Accept That When Someone Strikes You on the Right Cheek, Turn to Him The Other Also. Kudos to the person who has mastered this teaching. This is basically asking us to remove every little ounce of urge we have to show revenge to people who have hurt us. So much so that we are asked to "turn the other cheek." How profound!

10. Pray For Those Who Mistreat You. Hurting people hurt people. When we are hurt it is very easy to let our minds wonder aimlessly to the point of obsession. But really think about the other person for one second. Many times we know deep inside that this person is hurting themselves. Pray for your own healing but pray for their healing as well. 

Does this sound like a fair list of the "hardest" but probably the most rewarding teachings of Jesus? Can you think of any other "hard" teachings to follow when it comes to how we should treat other people? 

4 comments:

  1. This is a great blog and I totally agree these are very hard to do but very rewarding if they are done with our whole hearts. I'm working on many of these. Not perfect and I don't do them everyday but I try..

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  2. hey Reata! not sure why it won't let you leave your comment.

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  3. Let's try this again. George, you have brought up really great teachings that Christ has stressed on. I do agree they are hard to follow and obey, but very possible. I struggle with all of these teachings myself. I strongly believe that we find them hard not because they are impossible but because we are not truly living for Christ. Maybe, I am speaking for myself. Obviously, I can't speak for others; however, I know my close friends that I see often really well. I feel like I can make that judgement from what we have discussed and spoken about in the past with them. If I am really placing Christ first on a daily basis, why would it be hard to follow such "simple" requests? I say "simple" because these are the least acts we can do to pay Him back for what He has done. I ask myself that all the time. Now, it is up to me to act upon this belief of mine.

    Very well-said George. Makes me think about what I have taken for granted.

    --Reata

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  4. Good point, I forgot to mention although they are "hard" I wasn't implying that they were impossible to do. Actually I believe just the opposite. But yes, I struggle as well. I have 1 person I really need to remember when it comes to these teachings.

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