The key idea about the morality of Jesus is to love everyone and treat those lower than you with kindness and caring. These ideas show up in the Sermon on the Mount, specifically Jesus’ beatitudes. Jesus tells the people who are blessed and how people should ethically act. All of these people mentioned in the Beatitudes strive to help out those least among them. According to Jesus, this is how we will be judged. The reason I say the key idea about the morality of Jesus is to love everyone and treat them with kindness and caring is because that is what people who live out the beatitudes do.
Memorable Ideas
The Golden Rule. The golden rule is to treat others the way you want to be treated. This message is not unique to Jesus, but its meaning is very powerful. Everyone wants to be treated fairly and with respect and kindness. It is important to remember this when dealing with someone who is lower than you (like a poor person or and underclassman) (Mk. 7:12).
The Law of Human Nature. The Law of Human Nature is an objective moral code that all of humanity is exposed to. It is unspoken rules by which humans live. When someone says something is unfair, they are comparing it to the Law of Human Nature, which says something is fair or not. Belief in this accompanies the belief in an objective morality. This means that morality is not subjected to a specific culture or period of time, rather what is good is good and what is bad is bad always (C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity).
Judgment. Jesus rarely speaks of judgment or hell in the Gospels. However when Jesus does talk about judgment in Mt. 25:31-46, he doesn’t mention the great sins of fornication, theft, murder, adultery, etc., but rather how a person treats the suffering of the hungry, the thirsty, and the imprisoned. Jesus doesn’t say one goes to hell because that person sins. He judges them on how they treat those who suffer or are in need(William O’Malley’s The Moral Practice of Jesus).
What is a Christian? A Christian is someone who believes in Jesus and His teaches and tries to live out His message in his or her daily life. Am I a Christian? I am a Christian because I try to put Jesus’ teachings in the center of my life and live according to his message. What did the survey tell? The survey told me I was only partly living by Jesus’ teachings. Do I believe in what Jesus taught? I do believe in what Jesus taught. I feel if everyone acted this way, the world would be a much better place. How does following Jesus affect my morality? By following Jesus, I must make a conscious decision everyday and many times throughout the day to make sure I act according to Jesus’ teachings. Although I don’t always do this completely, it is something I continue to strive to achieve.
What Can a Person Do to Become a Better Christian?
In order to become a better Christian, a person must live out Jesus teachings. These teachings tell us to treat those least among us kindly. A Christian should strive to act like those in the beatitudes. Things I can do personally to make myself a better Christian is to help out my classmates when they need help with homework, to include those outside my normal group in activities and at lunch, and by being there for others when they need me.
