Do you think this is good advice, or not? [Spirituality & Religion]

Of course it’s good advice. How do you think the cycle of evil goes on? One of the ways is getting revenge. Doing bad to those who do bad to you. When you do good to those who have done wrong to you, you remove a little more bad from this world.

I played church for years ,but I had some poor examples
I spent years cussing God (I felt I had good reason ) and people kept speaking the same stuff over me ,,I was born to battle with the beast ,,,well no one could tell me who the beast was for sure ,,and the Mark ,,some future event ,,or so all the preachers I knew said ,
I even became a preacher ,,a cute little church and everyone loved me ,my family and I loved them ,,,but God kept sending men to me over and over saying I was not serving Him,,I opposed Him and I had a calling on my life ,,one I shouldn't keep ignoring
I had 3 visions ,,,at the time I did not know the first one was a vision ,,b ut I did know it saved my life ,,,the second one ,,I spent 7 days fasting asking God to tell me what it meant ,,,Nothing
Then a Pastor friend told me about a man that interprets visions and dreams , and we though he had ,,but he left some parts out ,,he didn't understand it ,,
Well that was a warning I was not prepared for ,,He said a woman was coming to destroy my ministry ,and try to kill me ,,but he did not say it could be more them one ...
A woman I know did confess to me she had plans to seduce me because she wanted a godly husband and she wanted me ,,,but she was not the only one ,,,
So I'll cut ahead ,,I had stopped going to church ,,my conference asked me to only preach the sermons they wanted me to preach ,which I was now unable to do ,,they contradicted Gods word ,,so I stepped down as pastor ,,now I know not to seek titles ,,,Christ is the shepherd not me ,,I am a seed sower
So when I was finally broken ,,a woman had crushed me ,,my Church thinking I went off the deep end because I said God said I opposed Him ,,,and now I am wanting to die
So I asked Go why not kill me or take this pain ,,and I heard him clearly
"The next time I tell you No ,,you will listen
He showed me who the Beast was ,,what the Mark of the beast is ,and showed me His commandments did not end at the cross ,,,the old Covent made ONLY with Israel did ,,sacrifice ,feast days called sabbath days ,the earthly priesthood
Christ told them in 70 ad their temple would be destroyed ,not one stone left upon another ,,He told the people unless they were more righteous then the religious leaders ,,they wouldn't see heaven either
The Stone the Papacy says was Peter was the stone the builders rejected
God / man who came unto His people ,and they knew Him not ,,He was speaking of Himself ,,not Peter
He also said as long as heaven and earth exist ,,so will the Law and the Prophets ,,"Think not that I have come to destroy them "" some need to look up for themselves what the word "fulfill " means ,,
When I learned what Gods will was ,and I started keeping His commandments
was finally born again ,,then His word made sense
People will misquote Paul to me ,,and Totally Ignore Everything Christ said
And yes that was literal ,,,when we pray for those who use us and we are really His ,,then He does deal with it ,,,when satan comes against us <We have the authority to take up His armor ans show satan who he is messing with
When we do it His way we have the authority to use His name ,,when we face trials they are only to prove to use we are His ,we can endure this ,,
And when we are without ,,He sends strangers to minister to us and feed us
When He is first ,,He will deal with the rest ,,He has proven Himself to me over and over ,,and now I am exposing the beast ,,,Just the religious want to argue ,,and quote a bunch of scripture they don't even quote in text at me
He said come out of her and remain separate not me ,
He said is you say you love Him and won't keep His commandment you are a liar and the truth is not in you not me ,,He said if you want to be in the holy city and eat from the tree of life there is a requirement ,,not me
I am just told to speak His word ,,not make people like it ,,,I am just a sower ,,if Moses had spoke to the rock like he was told to and not struck it ,,,he would have gone into the promised land ,,,had Lots wife not looked back she would have been spared ,,,has more then 8 people got on the ark ,,more then 8 people would have been spared
He uses men no one listens to I guess ,,,He told me to tell His People His law did not end at the cross ,,,as He warned us through Daniel 7:25 a man would think to change times and Laws ,,,He did ,,,,,,and now people listen to that man ,,,and ignore Him ...He is a jealous God ,,He is not having it ,,,
I know this is not what I set out to write ,,,thats how it works though LOL
And its about this time I get the washed in the blood and once saved always saved stuff ,,,,they need to study ,,thats not what He said at all
He overlooks babes ,,,He expects us to get off milk and onto meat ,,
So we can be born again ,,not milk fed Bible thumper's

I’ve been contemplating these verses since I read your message. I thought there must be more to this message then we are seeing. This is what God spoke to my heart.

If people are looking for a nice, comfortable walk with God, that doesn't call for too many demands on their life, and makes them happy 24/7, then they probably shouldn't try to be one of Jesus' disciples. He is demanding, because a disciplined life makes for a better life, and Jesus didn’t ask anything more of His followers, than He suffered Himself. Only Jesus went so much further than he asks of us.

He knows what it takes to take up your cross and follow Him. He knew we’d have to be tough if we were going to follow Him and live in this world, as well. Just as people hated Him, he knew we would be hated, as well, and spit upon and cursed, and even in some cases, killed for our beliefs in God.

This is why He refers to us as “Onward Christian Soldiers of the Cross”. We battle not only the real world, but fight and battle the spirit world, as well, each and every day. If we love Jesus, we gladly take up our cross and follow Him, in both word and deed.

Jesus said to put on the full armor of God. Here’s what that means:

Jesus' advice is always right and spot on. Anyone can love the lovely, but it takes real courage and strength to love the unlovely. Jesus makes that possible. Will we give in to the flesh and temptation, or yield to the Holy Spirit? Will we listen to God, or man?

There are different situations, when we must defend ourselves under man's laws, when we could lose our life, but that isn't what Jesus was talking about here. He is showing us what real love looks like, when we are in Christ. Also read my comment to Djc52. Jesus shows us by example and we should follow his example. He also knows that hate eats at our spirit like cancer. Our body is the temple of the Lord. There's no room for hate, nor to harbor it. It defiles His Temple. I think Jesus expects us to avoid these situations in the first place. Some people frequent the wrong places, then wonder why bad things happen.

Jesus said love one another. There was no "if" in that sentence.

Personally, I prefer the King James version. I have found that other translations can sometimes change the meaning of the whole verse.

It is only possible through Christ, who strengthens us. Anyone can fly off the handle and slap their enemy back, but the above example shows that through Jesus, we can love as He did. He was beat and spit on, they whipped Him mercilously until His very bones and insides showed, and what did He say? He told His Father, ”Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He said to love our enemies. He’s showing that ALL things are possible, when you have Jesus in your heart and life. He meant it literally, as well. It is a commandment, not a suggestion. There were no “ifs” in his sentence. Easy? No way, yet possible for those who truly love the Lord and keep His commandments. It takes real courage and guts to turn away when someone hurts you, but God gives courage and strength to those who follow Him.

There are some people in the world who will do you wrong more than once. I tend to believe, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

I give most people a pass on the first time they really hurt me. I try to reconcile and forgive. But I never forget, if it was a bad enough thing they did. Gradually I lose trust and withdraw from that person.

I agree with it and have done it, but turning the other cheek to be abused was the hardest and if I'd have had some where else to go I would have. It's taken me years to not get very upset when I think of how my own mother abused me. Now I don't let all that rent up a lot of space in my head and I try to release her with love. 😒 It's very hard to forgive but she's dead now and can no longer hurt me. I can't forget and really don't feel the love. 💔 I try and do it so I can heal. 🌟

It was almost certainly meant to be taken literally. Dude was a lot more hardcore than folks make him out to be today. This sort of extreme ascetic behavior was considered a virtuous ideal in the Near East of the AD 1st century, and surprising numbers of people back then actually lived that way. It was not about what they got out of it in return from the people they dealt with, it was about becoming incapable of being influenced by such things.

But yes, if you are not going to go all-in and throw away everything of worldly merit and live exclusively to "tend to your soul", you're correct: in that mode of being, which most of us choose to live, it is profoundly maladaptive and naïve advice which is best ignored.

I think it can be taken literally, though, not. Doing things from things from a place of love rather than a self serving expectation, is what is being said. This is not a call to be taken advantage of.
This is a ‘ don’t talk shot about everyone else and expect only kindness in return. Don’t lend someone 100.00 and allow it to destroy your relationship when they fail to repay you. If someone lashes out at you, don’t return the anger. ‘ kind of thing.

Never mind what the Bible says. Here's what I say.

A slap in the face always hurts. Not just the physical force of it. But the humiliation if done in front of friends or family. The damage it can do to a human being is terrible. You can get black eyes. Noses, teeth, other facial bones can get broken.

My father used to slap my stepsister in the face when she was in the teenage stage of talking back. She was lucky she never came out with facial bruises or broken teeth, but I can still hear my father saying, "Keep your teeth in your mouth! You got a pretty face and I wouldn't want to mess that up!"

Let's be fair. That was probably alcohol talking. Still, at the age of eight or nine, it terrified me no end. My stepsister was an outspoken teenager and said what she thought. At the time this went on, a slap in the mouth was supposed to be "good discipline". But, for the reasons mentioned above, researchers are reversing their studies on this.

i live my life this way, and i’m quite the atheist. i am not perfect at living my life this way, but i practice every day. you could derive the same advice from Taoism. i think this is excellent advice.

I think it's good advice, as it comes from God's Word. The best book on wisdom, ever.

The main goal here is do not let evil wins and take over you because when people do bad to you they are driven by Evil force. Life in the bible is a battle of Good against Evil.

It is literal that was the message from the cross "surrender all". Doesn't matter what it looks like it's not our battle it's Gods.

Strive for perfection, settle for progress. If you follow this reading, literally, you will be the one who benefits the most. I lend and don't expect anything back and give to everyone who asks. My needs are met. I forgive and expect to be forgiven by God. It provides a very comfortable mental state. Ask God to reveal to you who you are in His eyes, it has helped me understand the need for mercy.

It’s denying our own nature and submitting to the will of God when we follow his laws. To love one another is his perfect law. Does that mean we allow people to continually hurt us? No. Absolutely not we have a duty to protect ourselves as we are temples of the Holy Spirit.

It's absolutely good advice, and hard not to notice that it's also among the hardest to follow. Thing is... it's annoyting that so many christians fail in it, openly and by their own statement. It's one thing to fail, but they act ignorant of the commandment.

As a devout atheist, I still love this passage. If you only do good to those that do good to you . . . .

Jesus was spot on about so many things
(Except that part about the existence of God, but hey not bad for his day)

Sorry to say this but here is why most christians are not Christians "I have to wonder, was this not meant to be taken literally? Was Jesus exaggerating to make a point"

It's good advice. Better than what human's have come up with. Maybe it could be interpreted literally and spiritually..?

You said:

I think the verse is referring to being shown mercy and not being judged by God or in the last day/judgement. Of course human's won't give you much of that. :-)

Times were simpler when the Bible and its various books were written. Things were never so complicated and complex as they are today. Life has changed dramatically. In those days, you gave back what you were given in measure and thought nothing of it. Today, if you slap someone on the back, male or female, without warning or reason, you are more than likely to be charged with assault and battery.

A few good points, but mostly crap, like the rest of the book

God's word is the best advice 👍.

We should strive in all ways to be kinder gentler more compassionate more merciful. It is a lifetime quest. The journey makes ones life worth living.

I think That the current occupant of the US Whitehouse could learn from this passage!