The Do's and Don'ts of Christ's Commandments

A number of times during the last supper Christ said these or similar words to his apostles: “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Clearly he was not talking about the Ten Commandments. What commandments then was he talking about? A look at the Gospels will provide some clues as to the answer. There we find certain Do's and Don'ts he talked about.  However, it is clear that he is talking, not so much about commandments as about guidelines for his followers. What we are really dealing with is a new spirit, new values and attitudes towards God, towards our neighbor, and towards life. Keeping this in mind, to look at some of the Do's and Don’ts he talked about is not only helpful, but necessary. I happened to find the following list, so let us imagine that Christ is speaking directly to us.

Don'ts
-Do not return evil for evil. Nothing is achieved by retaliation, except to pile darkness upon darkness.
-Do not judge your neighbor. No one knows all the facts in any particular case except God. Therefore, leave judgement to God.
-Do not condemn your neighbor. This follows from the last. If you are not to pass judgement on your neighbor, neither are you to pass sentence on him.
-Do not worry about food, and drink, and clothes, as if these were the most important things in life. Make it your first concern to live a life worthy of a son or a daughter of God, and all the rest will fall into place.
-Do not store up treasures for yourselves here on earth: money, property, goods, and so on. These are like dust in the eyes of God, dust to be blown away in the first winds of judgement.
-Do not look back once you have put your hand to the plough, that is, once you have decided to follow my way. And once you have made what you are sure is a right decision in life, go forward trusting in God.
-Do not give up hope when times are rough. Keep on trusting in me and in the Father. Remember that you are worth more than thousands of sparrows.

Do's
-Let the light of your goodness shine before people. The light you shed around you will help others to find their way, and the Father will be glorified.
-Love your enemies. To be kind to those you don’t like, or who may have been unkind to you, is hard. But if you do this, you will be the salt of the earth.
-Give generously. The measure you give to others will be the measure you receive from God.
-Forgive those who sin against you. Then you have nothing to fear in regard to your own sins. God has already
forgiven them.
-Clean the inside of cup and dish, and the outside will become clean too.
-See that your minds and hearts are clean. Then all your thoughts, words and deeds will also be clean, like water
coming from an unpolluted well.
-Take my body and eat it. Take this cup and drink my blood. Do this in memory of me. In the Eucharistic Banquet you will find the nourishment you need to live as my disciples.
-And love one another, the way I have loved you. Then all will know that you are disciples of mine.

-Fr. John Kim