the_royal_commandment The Words of Jesus of Nazareth The most important of all of the commandments is this: You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. Let the second commandment be: You will love your neighbour as you love yourself. This is my commandment: That you love one another as I have loved you! There are no commandments greater than these. No one possesses greater love than the one who is willing to lay down his life for his friends! Whoever lives contrary to even the least of these commandments, will be the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever abides by them, and teaches others the joy of following them, will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. I have told you all of these things, that my joy might remain with you, and that your joy be complete. Surely you have heard people say: "It is natural to love your neighbours, and hate your enemies." But I say, love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Do good to them that hate you. Pray for them that despise and persecute you. By doing this, you will be the children of your Father who is in heaven: for he makes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. If you only love those that love you, what good is that? Even the corrupt behave in a similar manner. If you are hospitable only to your friends, what reward is there? Instead, love one another as I have loved you. By doing this, everyone will see that you are my disciples, because you are full of such selfless love. Don't be deceived; if someone truly loves me, you will know it. That person will live life according to my words; honoured by my Father, and blessed with the presence of his fellowship. If you listen to what I am saying, and do it, and love me, you will be loved by my Father, and by me. We will come and make our dwelling within you in the house of your heart. My Father loves you because you have believed me, and believed that I have come from God. Continue in that love. Keep my words, and you will live in this love; I keep my Father's commandments, and by doing so abide in his love. A certain man travelled from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the road he was attacked by thieves, who stripped him of his clothes, beat him, and left him half dead. By chance, a priest was walking the same way. But seeing the poor man, he crossed over to the other side of the road. No long afterwards, a religious man passed by. He looked down on the victim, and then hurried away. Finally, a Samaritan, a man despised because of his race, approached. When he saw the injured man, he immediately felt compassion for him, and, tearing his own coat into strips, he bandaged his wounds, dressing them with oil and wine. Then he laid him gently over his mule, and brought him to an inn. There he made sure that the man was well taken care of. In the morning before he departed, he paid the in keeper, and said: "Attend to him; and when I come again, I will reimburse you." Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell among thieves? Go, live your lives doing the same as the good man from Samaria. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These are the very words of Jesus of Nazereth. Taken originally from the Bible , and arranged here by subject as they appear in Lee Cantelon's book "The Words" (c) 1997. [www.thewords.com] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The_Words 010826 ... black-dyed gel product The REAL royal commandment: "FOR GOD SAKES, PUT SOME PANTS ON!" 010826 ... kx21 Its smell is like she1 given that all Beings (i.e. Lord, God, Your neighbour, and other sentient beings / non-sentient beings) are equal... 010826 ... kx21 And 'Respect' is more meaningful & flexible than 'Love' in reality... 010826 what's it to you? who go blather from