"God helps them who help themselves"

Although this might be a commonly held opinion in today's society it was never part of Jesus' teaching. In fact Jesus went out of his way to show that we should all go out of our way to help those less fortunate than ourselves. Jesus focused his ministry on the poor and the outcasts of society. The whole idea of the early Christians gathering together was to worship and to support one another. The book of Acts Chapter 2 from verse 43 in the New Testament of the Bible tells us about this.

"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth"

Although this statement can be found in the Old Testament of the Bible (Exodus Chapter 20 verse 24 & Deuteronomy Chapter 21 verse 20) and it gets worse "….a hand for a hand and a foot for a foot", Jesus was keen to point out that this was not the way to behave.

In Luke's gospel Jesus' words are recorded as saying:

"You have heard that it was said, 'an eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth'. But now I tell you; do not take revenge if anyone wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap you on the left cheek too."

Jesus wasn't trying to make his followers the doormats to all nations but was pointing out that revenge is never good. More than that he pointed out not only should we not take revenge but that we should also love our enemies. (Luke 6 verse 27->) This is a long way from the old laws of the Torah "an eye for an eye…."

"You can't teach an old dog new tricks"

Jesus showed that it was always possible for people to change. Indeed he told a Jewish leader, Nicodemus, that no one could enter the kingdom of God unless they were born again. He explained this means a total change of life, being baptised by water and in the Spirit of God.

Some people learn new tricks and change quickly. Others take longer and find it much more painful. God rarely asks us to stay as we are…but to travel on a journey towards him. To do this we need constantly to change and grow. Trusting God to change us in his time.

All of us are called to learn and change all the time. As Steve Chalke in his book 'He never said' writes: "The truth is, if you are beyond learning new tricks, your not an old dog, you're a dead dog!"

"There's no room for doubt"

In the mid-eighties David Jenkins the then Bishop of Durham voiced doubts about some aspects of the Christian faith. To some this was blasphemous, to others there was a collective sigh of relief that even a Bishop could have doubts.

Jesus never pushed, forced, bludgeoned, cajoled etc. people into faith. He just told people how much God loved them! Faith doesn't depend on our grasp of God, but on God's grasp of us. In this there is always the possibility that we will doubt but never the chance that God will stop loving us.

Jesus always invited (and continues to invite) us to believe ~ we are never compelled

Paul Tillich sums it up: "Doubt isn't the opposite of faith. It is an element of faith" Where there is absolute certainty, there can be no room for faith!

Find out what Jesus did say

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