[INTRO]

Lost in the fictional narratives of the Gospel accounts of the life of Jesus, are words of wisdom from an outstanding philosopher, who ended up paying the ultimate price for thinking (and expressing) provocative thoughts that revolutionized an era.

The aim of this little piece is to harvest those words of wisdom, which remain relevant for anyone looking for ways in which humanism has progressed along the years. 

There's the obvious inspiration from President Jefferson, who reportedly did a similar work of his own. 

Unlike Jefferson's effort though, any slight reference to the supernatural or Jewish folklore will be omitted from this work. 

Enjoy.

............................................................................................


KEEPING THINGS ORDERLY
MARK 2: 21-22
"No one uses a piece of new cloth to patch up an old coat, because the new patch will shrink and tear off some of the old cloth, making an even bigger hole. Nor does anyone pour new wine into used wineskins, because the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins will be ruined. Instead, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.”


STRENGTH IN UNITY
MARK 3: 24-25
"If a country divides itself into groups which fight each other, that country will fall apart. If a family divides itself into groups which fight each other, that family will fall apart."


OVERCOMING OBSTACLES 
MARK 3: 27
"No one can break into a strong man's house and take away his belongings unless he first ties up the strong man; then he can plunder his house."


CIRCUMSTANTIAL NATURE OF SUCCESS
MARK 4: 3-8 
"Once there was a man who went out to sow corn. As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some of it fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The seeds soon sprouted, because the soil wasn't deep. Then, when the sun came up, it burnt the young plants; and because the roots had not grown deep enough, the plants soon dried up. Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up and choked the plants, and they didn't produce any corn. But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants sprouted, grew, and produced corn: some had thirty grains, others sixty, and others a hundred.”


EVERYTHING HAS ITS PLACE
MARK 4: 21 
“Does anyone ever bring in a lamp and put it under a bowl or under the bed? Doesn't he put it on the lampstand?"


THIRST FOR IMPORTED TALENTS
MARK 6: 4 
“Prophets are respected everywhere except in their own home town and by their relatives and their family.”


THE DEVIL WITHIN 
MARK 7: 20 
“It is what comes out of a person that makes him unclean. For from the inside, from a person's heart, come the evil ideas which lead him to do immoral things, to rob, kill, commit adultery, be greedy, and do all sorts of evil things; deceit, indecency, jealousy, slander, pride, and folly — all these evil things come from inside a person and make him unclean.”

 

REVENGE AND TOLERANCE  
MATTHEW 5: 38-42
"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap you on your left cheek too. And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one kilometre, carry it two kilometres. 
When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him"


CHARITY
MATTHEW 6: 2
"When you give something to a needy person, do not make a big show of it, as the hypocrites do in the houses of worship and on the streets. They do it so that people will praise them"


DISTRACTIONS
MATTHEW 6:24
"No one can be a slave of two masters; he will hate one and love the other, he will be loyal to one and despise the other."


ANXIETY OVER THE FUTURE
MATTHEW 6:34
"Do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to he troubles each day brings."


HYPOCRISY
MATTHEW 7: 4
"How dare you say to your brother, 'Please, let me take that speck out of your eye,' when you have a log in your own eye?

MATTHEW 7:12
"Do for others what you want them to do for you."

Mister OP, the teachings of Jesus were not his original teachings.
He was just repeating and propagating the way of life of the Essenes.
Study about them and educate yourself on that subject matter.