How realistic is it to actually practice what Jesus Christ taught? For me personally, the basic teachings of Jesus are very much 'keepable'.Although Jesus taught sometimes in riddles or parables, there are many commands he gave which are clear enough to put into practice. Other, more hidden sayings of Jesus require a long time, perhaps years, of pondering and comparing them to what happens in life, to get better insight. This is clearly what he wants us to do. Other teachings are possible to put into action as soon as we grasp their meaning. It is not hard to give to the poor secretly, It is not hard to pray secretly. It is not hard to sell possessions unless you are rich, to give to the poor. I found that practising all of the commands of Jesus really led to him revealing himself and the Father too. His promise of this is kept by him faithfully. Now, faith is tough, believing without doubting is tough, takes a lot of self-control and the word of his grace being preached - but it is not impossible and he was right about its effect being miraculous. So much of the body of teachings of Jesus Christ is readily doable. Even the miraculous teachings are doable. It is a weight lifted. Not as heavy as Torah of Moses which needs a lot of community aspects we cannot reproduce today. Jesus' yoke is lighter. I admit that over the years of trying to carry out what Jesus taught, I sometimes stumbled over certain teachings, until I realised that understanding them literally is not always appropriate since some of his teachings are expressed in idiomatic terms. You need to learn the lesson he was teaching and work out how best to apply it in your life. You do what you can when you can and try to get ready to do things when opportunity arises. For example, feeding your enemy means you first need to have a hungry enemy and some food, so it is about being ready to respond as appropriate. You know what he means, that you should not withhold good completely just because someone is an enemy or not particularly a friend: you give something perhaps less than you would give a friend but you do not completely deny them what they need if they are desperate. It takes time to both understand his sayings and his commands and to work out how to apply them and then to change former habits into something more obedient and wise according to what he taught. This is the best way to act on what he taught. He is an example of his own teachings. He is no hypocrite. He loves those who love his teachings and this love is genuine. The Father too loves such people because the Father gave the teachings to His Son and wants those teachings observed and recognises the love we have when we observe them and He honours it. Ultimately this all leads to eternal life because Jesus Christ is now Lord with all authority and able to make our lives eternal and able to raise us from the dead. It is the will of God who sent him.
