| A RELIGION TO LIVE BY
Religionat its best fills basic human needs. In the final analysis, all of us seem to need the same things. We need to feel that we are important to those around us. We need to feel that we have a place among our fellow men. We need to feel a purpose and a sense of direction in our lives. And we need to feel that we are moving toward our highest goals.
In every year since Jesus spoke and walked in the paths of Palestine, some people have found answers to their deepest needs in what he said and did. It matters very little that their disagreements in what to believe have often outnumbered their agreements. The important thing is that they have lived more richly because of Jesus’ life.
Christians say that Jesus’ message is timeless, because he drew teachings directly from the experiences of people he knew. To them, many of his statements are as true today as when he uttered them. His Sermon on the Mount has inspired numbers of devoted Christians to thoughtful living by his parables or by his Sermon on the Mount. Studied carefully and used thoughtfully, such teachings still bring peace of mind to present-day Christians.
RESPECT YOURSELF
Many of the people whom Jesus knew had lost a sense of their own true worth. They felt that they were not important to God or to men. The priests and religious teachers had only added to their problems by labeling them "sinners" and "unclean." To such troubled people, Jesus preached a message of confidence. "You are the salt of the earth!" "You are the light of the world!"
Sometimes loss of self-respect causes a person to cringe before someone else who seems to be important. There have been many over-humble Christians who have followed the dictates and directives of leaders in their churches. They have not dared to doubt, to question, or to investigate, for fear they would make further mistakes. But nowhere in Jesus’ message is there a reference to the right of some to dictate beliefs to others. Jesus issued an open invitation to people to join him in the search for the abundant life. In this search, all are equal.
We live today in a world filled with anxiety. Human beings produce this condition, and it could be eliminated by intelligent human efforts. We worry about countless things -- losing something we have, wanting something we lack. We are anxious about big things and little things, and our worries penetrate every part of our lives. We become increasingly unable to do the things we should and could do, because we are worrying so about the things we cannot do. Jesus tried to still such fears by pointing out real values.
Do not worry about life, wondering what you will have to eat or drink, or about your body, wondering what you will have to wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body than clothes? Look at the wild birds. They do not sow or reap, or store their food in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Now, as in Jesus’ time, people can become emotionally and physically sick when they no longer respect themselves. Sometimes the sickness takes the form of contempt for personal desires, or feelings, or appearance. Jesus never ceased to encourage a person to respect himself. He knew that a person does not reach maturity unless he is able to accept himself as he is.
If one of us hates very much the way he acts or the way he looks, he will see only what he dislikes about himself. Is this a true picture of what he is? Indeed not. In the same way, some persons fail to get satisfaction from contacts with other people. They are thinking about appearances and manners of their friends, instead of really knowing them.
Jesus taught people that they should love their neighbors in the same way that they love themselves. If we are to love other people, we must first love ourselves. We have often been told to love ourselves last. But if this were the case, we would never love anyone. Loving oneself wisely is the basis of loving others well.
LOVE OTHER PEOPLE
Too many people mistake possessiveness for love. They attempt to persuade the loved one, to make decisions for him, or even to act for him. Real love, said Jesus, consists simply of granting the person the right to be himself.
Now and then we try to make someone over or reform him. We usually learn that this destroys friendship. The more we try to force people into our pattern, the less influence we have with them. Force defeats itself. Love and acceptance are the greatest powers. They draw love and acceptance in return.
This is the hardest lesson of parenthood. Of course, babies must be protected from the possible danger their immature decisions might bring. However, as the years go by, parents must learn to let their children assume increasing responsibilities for their own lives. No one can become mature unless he is allowed to be himself.
There is a well-known saying, "I will forgive but I won’t forget." A person "makes up" with the friend with whom he has quarreled, but he still cherishes secret resentments. These hurt feelings buried under the outward forgiveness have a chance to grow and fester. They prevent richer relationships with others.
Jesus was apparently well aware of the fact that if one does not truly forgive, be himself cannot be happy:
If you forgive others when they offend you, your heavenly Father will forgive you too. But if you do not forgive others when they offend you, your heavenly Father will not forgive you for your offenses.
And in the familiar prayer based on Jesus’ suggestions to his followers, there is this request: "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us."
Jesus was always reminding people that forgiveness was just as important to the wronged person as to the person who had committed the wrong. Forgiveness must be given as often as it is needed. There must be no limit to it. Otherwise, resentments will creep in and gradually prevent the unforgiving person from living happily.
Jesus taught that love was the law for all areas of human life, between friend and friend, between members of a family, and between groups of people. Christians have disagreed radically among themselves as to the application of this teaching. Some say that it cannot be applied to the relationships between groups of people and nations. They have even said that it is a "counsel of perfection," not intended to be followed by anyone on this earth. Some Christians have been able to bless wars, torture, and executions in the name of their faith. Others have insisted that love is to be applied in all phases of one’s life, to the greatest possible extent.
BE HONEST
Only when we have learned to love can we be honest with ourselves and with others. To Jesus, inner honesty was of first importance in living the good life. He called for people to be good, not just to practice goodness. He was distressed by pretenders who stood up to pray in the synagogues or on the street corners so that people would think them pious. Jesus said that the prayer said in the privacy of one’s own heart and home was far, far better than a prayer for its public effect.
He told his followers that they would get nowhere in the spiritual search by repeating "empty phrases." How distressing it is sometimes that many Christians of today think that religion consists of repeating creeds and prayers, which mean nothing to them. The real danger is that this dishonesty blinds us to our need for something more, and we go along trying to pretend that we are satisfied.
We are dishonest in other ways. We do good deeds to impress people favorably, without feeling the goodness. We learn polite words to say, without feeling the politeness. We join organizations and social groups, but we do not learn to love people more. We wear these fine false faces in public, and often we fool even ourselves. But the feeling inside is much more important than what we show on the surface. It is only when our inner intentions match our outward acts that we live abundantly. This is being honest.
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