Jesus' Teachings: which have you been most devoted to trying to follow?

[dead0man]

Love your neighbor like yourself and treat people how you want to be treated, but they kind of the same thing.  I do alright on those.


and the don'ts (murder,adultery,stealing, lying, cheating)....hey 3 out of 5 ain't bad is it?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Love your neighbor like yourself and treat people how you want to be treated, but they kind of the same thing.  I do alright on those.

lmao

[Blue3]

I read through the entire New Testament and made a list of all of Jesus's commands or teachings, I'll try to organize it better and post an updated version of this thread.

[The Mikado]

Where's the blanket, unequivocal ban on divorce on the list?

Or saying that anyone who marries a divorced woman is committing adultery?

[°Leprechaun]

None of these are unique to Christianity, but I would say are key to being a good person regardless of religion or complete lack there of.

Love your neighbor as yourself.   7 (3.4%)
Forgiving others (and you'll too be forgiven), not judging or condemning others.   7 (3.4%)
Treating others as you want to be treated.   10 (4.9%)
Removing the log in your eye before attending the splinter in your friend's.   5 (2.5%)
Forgive those who have sinned against us or indebted to us.   8 (3.9%)
Not murder.   14 (6.9%)
Not commit adultery.   12 (5.9%)
Not steal.   11 (5.4%)
Not testify falsely.   9 (4.4%)
Not cheat anyone.   10 (4.9%)
Honor your parents/guardians/elders.   3 (1.5%)


"Treating others as you want to be treated.   10 (4.9%) "
This can cause harm if you assume others are the same as yourself, it is very important to listen to others, to find out what they need or want. This would be a better version.

[°Leprechaun]

"Give all your possessions to the poor."

This, I believe, would be a mistake. I wonder how many people take it literally.
It certainly is not a very popular teaching, if taken literally.
If one does not do this and nevertheless feels guilty about it, that would be tragic.

Money makes the world go round, like it or not, and in so far as a Christian sees money as evil, that person would be sadly mistaken. I am not saying that greed is always a good thing, but I do thiink that we should have a healthy relationship to it.

[America's Sweetheart ❤/𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕭𝖔𝖔𝖙𝖞 𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖗]

None, to  be perfectly honest.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

A lot of these aren't things that Jesus explicitly taught.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

"Give all your possessions to the poor."

This, I believe, would be a mistake. I wonder how many people take it literally.
It certainly is not a very popular teaching, if taken literally.
If one does not do this and nevertheless feels guilty about it, that would be tragic.

Money makes the world go round, like it or not, and in so far as a Christian sees money as evil, that person would be sadly mistaken. I am not saying that greed is always a good thing, but I do thiink that we should have a healthy relationship to it.

In 1 Timothy, Paul says that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil; he does not say that money itself is the root of all evil, as he is often misquoted.  When Jesus told the rich man to give all his possessions to the poor, He was not so much teaching it as doctrine as he was testing the man's faith and how far he would go to follow Him.

[Blue3]

A lot of these aren't things that Jesus explicitly taught.

These are all from what Jesus said in the 4 Gospels of the New Testament:

Blessed states of mind:
1.   Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven
2.   Blessed are those who mourn: for they will be comforted
3.   Blessed are the meek: for they will inherit the earth
4.   Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they will be filled
5.   Blessed are the merciful: for they will be shown mercy
6.   Blessed are the pure in heart: for they will see God
7.   Blessed are the peacemakers: for they will be called children of God
8.   Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
9.   Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you
10.   Practice what you preach, remove the log in your eye before attending the splinter in your friend's
11.   Let your light shine before others, but don't announce your charity or prayer or fasting for recognition
12.   Cut off that which would cause you to stumble
13.   Become like little children
14.   Don't serve money
15.   Don't worry
16.   Don’t feel entitled
17.   Express thanks
18.   Have faith and courage, persevere, stand firm
19.   Be devoted
20.   Do not be afraid
21.   Do not fear death
22.   Be ready at any time

Loving God:
23.   Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
24.   Hoping God's will be done on earth.
25.   Glorify God’s name/word/being
26.   Pray (Lord’s Prayer)

Loving Jesus:
27.   Be willing to give up everything to follow Jesus
28.   Love Jesus by following his teachings
29.   Eat and drink in remembrance of Jesus
30.   Carry your cross and follow Jesus (Luke 14)

Loving Others:
31.   Love all others as Jesus loved you
32.   Love your neighbor as yourself
33.   Forgive others (and you'll too be forgiven), do not judge or condemn others
34.   Turn the other cheek
35.   Love your enemies
36.   Treat others as you want to be treated
37.   Forgive those who have sinned against us or indebted to us
38.   Serve others
39.   Freely give
40.   Do not murder/be angry
41.   Do not commit adultery/be lustful
42.   Do not steal
43.   Do not testify falsely, or slander
44.   Do not cheat anyone
45.   Honor your parents/guardians/elders
46.   Give all your possessions to the poor
47.   Show mercy, do not demand sacrifice
48.   Do not cause others to sin
49.   Wish peace to others
50.   Don't divide against yourselves

Acts of mercy:
51.   Feed the hungry
52.   Give water to the thirsty
53.   Clothe the naked
54.   Shelter the homeless
55.   Visit the sick
56.   Visit the imprisoned or ransom the captive

Beliefs:
57.   You will have eternal life if you follow the teachings of Jesus
58.   If you ask for forgiveness, God will forgive you, it is never too late
59.   Breaking human rules and dietary laws do not defile you
60.   The exalted will be humbled, the humbled will be exalted
61.   The coming end of the world, kingdom of God, and the sorting
62.   You are valuable, you are loved

Other Commands:
63.   Believe in Jesus
64.   Repent
65.   Spread Jesus' teachings to all people of the world.
66.   Only divorce in cases of sexual immorality
67.   Do not swear an oath
68.   Be born again with water/spirit/breath
69.   Beware false prophets, you can tell by their bad fruit 
70.   Warning against greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, arrogance and folly

[catographer]

"Become like little children."

What does this mean?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

"Become like little children."

What does this mean?

It means to be humble, innocent, curious, and dependent upon God the same way a child is dependent upon their parents.

[catographer]

"67.   Do not swear an oath "

That's a weird one. So what about ending the oath of office with "So Help Me God?" Is that explicitly forbidden by Jesus?

[RFayette]

"67.   Do not swear an oath "

That's a weird one. So what about ending the oath of office with "So Help Me God?" Is that explicitly forbidden by Jesus?

I think this explains the teaching pretty well.

https://www.gotquestions.org/vows-God.html

It doesn't refer to all oaths, IMO.

[TPIG]

The main one I've been focused on is loving others as Jesus loves me. It's often a difficult and trying task, given the nature of some people. However, I try to make a conscious effort to step back and realize that just as Christ loves and died for me, he did the same for everyone else, even the most difficult people in our lives. When you dwell on that fact, you begin to see the innate worth in all people  and can start to feel a sense of real love for them.

[catographer]

"67.   Do not swear an oath "

That's a weird one. So what about ending the oath of office with "So Help Me God?" Is that explicitly forbidden by Jesus?

I think this explains the teaching pretty well.

https://www.gotquestions.org/vows-God.html

It doesn't refer to all oaths, IMO.

That resource explains that apparently, the only vows allowed are for legal contracts or wedding vows. It even explicitly says that the kind of vows Jesus frowned upon included "I swear on a stack of Bibles…" So literally the oath of office lol. Am I taking it too literally, or should all Christian Presidents "affirm" instead of swear from now on?

[RFayette]

"67.   Do not swear an oath "

That's a weird one. So what about ending the oath of office with "So Help Me God?" Is that explicitly forbidden by Jesus?

I think this explains the teaching pretty well.

https://www.gotquestions.org/vows-God.html

It doesn't refer to all oaths, IMO.

That resource explains that apparently, the only vows allowed are for legal contracts or wedding vows. It even explicitly says that the kind of vows Jesus frowned upon included "I swear on a stack of Bibles…" So literally the oath of office lol. Am I taking it too literally, or should all Christian Presidents "affirm" instead of swear from now on?

I think the context here is verbal affirmation - more importantly, the idea that you would say something to make it sound like you are being truly honest at this point in time rather than simply always being direct and forthright.  The Bible speaks of oaths in other instances, so I think in instances where it is a bit of a grey area in scripture.  John Piper, a pastor whom I greatly respect, would argue this scripture does condemn swearing on the Bible.  However, upon research, it appears that a lot of the early church fathers interpreted the teaching as simply saying you should be so honest that you wouldn't need to make any additional statement, and that oaths would be allowed.  I genuinely see this as a grey area, though I think the one thing we can say for sure is that Christians shouldn't casually make statements like "I swear on my mother's life" or the like and instead simply be honest continuously; I think this is a bit ambiguous, especially given Jesus's fondness for hyperbole.

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/should-christians-swear-on-the-bible
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11176a.htm

[SingingAnalyst]

Also, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" (John 7:53 - 8:11, though that is one of the more disputed passages of John's Gospel).

[Khunanup]

Love your neighbour as yourself.

As we forgive those who trespass against us.

Core, core values for me personally and politically. How can a society function if division, hatred, retribution and revenge are at the heart of it in opposition to those teachings?

[Blue3]

A lot of these aren't things that Jesus explicitly taught.

These are all from what Jesus said in the 4 Gospels of the New Testament:

Blessed states of mind:
1.   Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven
2.   Blessed are those who mourn: for they will be comforted
3.   Blessed are the meek: for they will inherit the earth
4.   Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they will be filled
5.   Blessed are the merciful: for they will be shown mercy
6.   Blessed are the pure in heart: for they will see God
7.   Blessed are the peacemakers: for they will be called children of God
8.   Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
9.   Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you
10.   Practice what you preach, remove the log in your eye before attending the splinter in your friend's
11.   Let your light shine before others, but don't announce your charity or prayer or fasting for recognition
12.   Cut off that which would cause you to stumble
13.   Become like little children
14.   Don't serve money
15.   Don't worry
16.   Don’t feel entitled
17.   Express thanks
18.   Have faith and courage, persevere, stand firm
19.   Be devoted
20.   Do not be afraid
21.   Do not fear death
22.   Be ready at any time

Loving God:
23.   Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
24.   Hoping God's will be done on earth.
25.   Glorify God’s name/word/being
26.   Pray (Lord’s Prayer)

Loving Jesus:
27.   Be willing to give up everything to follow Jesus
28.   Love Jesus by following his teachings
29.   Eat and drink in remembrance of Jesus
30.   Carry your cross and follow Jesus (Luke 14)

Loving Others:
31.   Love all others as Jesus loved you
32.   Love your neighbor as yourself
33.   Forgive others (and you'll too be forgiven), do not judge or condemn others
34.   Turn the other cheek
35.   Love your enemies
36.   Treat others as you want to be treated
37.   Forgive those who have sinned against us or indebted to us
38.   Serve others
39.   Freely give
40.   Do not murder/be angry
41.   Do not commit adultery/be lustful
42.   Do not steal
43.   Do not testify falsely, or slander
44.   Do not cheat anyone
45.   Honor your parents/guardians/elders
46.   Give all your possessions to the poor
47.   Show mercy, do not demand sacrifice
48.   Do not cause others to sin
49.   Wish peace to others
50.   Don't divide against yourselves

Acts of mercy:
51.   Feed the hungry
52.   Give water to the thirsty
53.   Clothe the naked
54.   Shelter the homeless
55.   Visit the sick
56.   Visit the imprisoned or ransom the captive

Beliefs:
57.   You will have eternal life if you follow the teachings of Jesus
58.   If you ask for forgiveness, God will forgive you, it is never too late
59.   Breaking human rules and dietary laws do not defile you
60.   The exalted will be humbled, the humbled will be exalted
61.   The coming end of the world, kingdom of God, and the sorting
62.   You are valuable, you are loved

Other Commands:
63.   Believe in Jesus
64.   Repent
65.   Spread Jesus' teachings to all people of the world.
66.   Only divorce in cases of sexual immorality
67.   Do not swear an oath
68.   Be born again with water/spirit/breath
69.   Beware false prophets, you can tell by their bad fruit 
70.   Warning against greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, arrogance and folly

I had gone through the gospels a couple years ago, working on citing where all the teachings of Jesus came from, to have a comprehensive list with citations, just didn't completely finish it. Would anyone be interested in me finishing that project?

[CelestialAlchemy]

well, my feelings about Christianity are.. mixed at the moment but I feel like I follow these well:

Blessed are those who mourn: for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the merciful: for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they will be called children of God.
Treating others as you want to be treated.
Not murder.
Not commit adultery.
Not steal.
Not cheat anyone.

etc etc.