Live Your Life According to Christ

By Mitchell

By the way, the readings for Sunday contain a precise, almost seamless, message as to the importance of following the teachings of Jesus, and making them part of your everyday life:

Here is what you should do:
And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:37-40)

Here is how you should do it:
For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. (1 Thessalonians 1:8)

Here's what happens if you don't do it:
Whoever sacrifices to any god, save to the LORD only, shall be utterly destroyed. "You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. If you do afflict them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry; and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless. (Exodus 22:20-24)

Now, we have to ask ourselves: do we take these teachings to heart? Do we live the Commandments in our daily lives, or only in church? At our workplace, or only at home? Would others know your beliefs by the way you live? Might their behavior change by observing the example set by yours? Or would your beliefs be a secret to others? Do we treat everyone as brothers and sisters in Christ, or is it only our friends and allies, and do we do it only when it is to our advantage?

We read the words, we hear His teachings. Are we prepared to follow them, are we willing to defy those who try to stand in our way through policy or ridicule? Or would we be more comfortable just going along to get along?

It's all out there, written down for our benefit. What part of it don't we understand?