Sermon on the Mount

I consider myself a very liberal Christian. I don't believe in much of the Bible--basically only the Gospels as they are the true core of what Jesus said and did during his lifetime. The gospels contain one of the most beautiful stretches of literature that I have read, the Sermon on the Mount.

If every Christian simply ignored the rest of the Bible and lived by the words in this Sermon by Jesus, we would have a beautiful world that we live in. Tragically, most Christians will never understand the implications of this sermon. For one:

But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

It is hard to live like this. It is so much easier to hate. Hate comes naturally when people wrong us or do bad things to us. Think of how our supposed "Christian Nation" would really respond to such things? Our macho culture is taught that being passive is wrong. Being beaten up and not responding is wrong. Our culture admires and even encourages revenge...and yet here Jesus lets us know in plain talk that that's not the right road if you want to be a Christian.

There are so many good lessons from this Sermon on how to be a good Christian. To greet the bad things that happen to us in life with grace and to offer warmth and love when greeted by hate and anger. Jesus turned much of the Old Testament on its head with his sayings and teachings during this sermon...so why do people still quote Leviticus anymore? Jesus said that everyone in our life deserves love...and most especially the people who don't like us or the people whom we don't like.

To my old friends that abandoned me, I love you. I wish you only the best and even though it hurts everytime I think of you, you will always be in my heart till my last breath.

To those that I've wronged in the past, I hope that you can forgive me for not realizing how wonderful you were and what a bad example of person I was.