3 Lessons From the Gospels

Focus on bettering yourself, not others

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap […]. “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” […] At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. — John 8, New International Version (NIV)

This is a highly practical and useful passage (and a mad story). It is very easy to pass judgement on others: how unfit, impolite, obsessed with money they are, or some other fault they might display. The teaching here is that we’d all be better off working to become better ourselves rather than point out others’ faults. As it turns out this is not only the right thing to do, it actually feels great.

On a related note this makes me wonder if billionaires should be starting charities and “helping people solve their biggest problems”? They’d probably do better to just give families the money, let them do what they want with it, and work on bettering himself instead of solving other people’s problems. That would be very impressive, much more so than playing God.

Have respect for rules, even if they’re silly

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. — Matthew 5.17

I’m bad at following rules. I often think “that’s a dumb rule, I’m breaking it”. Often times in the Gospels Jesus breaks a rule, e.g. he heals a man on the Sabbath. The Pharisees (read: bad guys, they are the moral police) always point out that he broke this or that rule from Jewish law (Old testament) and want to punish him for it. Time and again Jesus demonstrates how he knows and understands the law (read: all sorts of rules Jews had to abide by in biblical times) better than the lawmakers, and because of that he can go beyond, and abide by the spirit not the letter. The lesson is that we can break rules, but only if we truly understand and appreciate where they’re coming from. I find this one very hard to stick to…

Do good privately

Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. — Matthew 6.2, NIV

It’s tempting to engage in virtue signalling, sharing on social media or in conversation that we did this or that good thing. Telling people how you gave money to a tramp or some worthy cause. It’s much better to discretely do good and not seek outward gratification for it, but rather derive happiness from the act itself. This theme comes back a few times in the gospel of Matthew, underlining the importance the authors ascribed to it. There is some nuance however, you shouldn’t be hiding your good deeds either. Don’t keep reminding people about them, rather, just do them and it will be clear you are a good person.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds — Matthew 5.16

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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.

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