Walking In The Light Of Christ’s Teachings

Last updated on: September 27, 2026 at 3:47 am by Henry Karlson

0 Comments

Walking In The Light Of Christ’s Teachings 2026-09-27T03:47:11-05:00 Henry Karlson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Light of Tabor (The Transfiguration). Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis: Church interior. Goreme, Turkey / Wikimedia Commons

Our mind, and the beliefs and ideas we hold to, affects the way we interpret the world at large. While our beliefs can, and often do change, over time, we must be willing to have them challenged for them to be change. We must be ready to learn. If not, such change can be hindered, especially if we become so assured of ourselves and what we think we know and believe. When that happens, our beliefs become the hermeneutical lens which has us interpret or dismiss everything which challenges us. We see this in those affected by confirmation bias; they interprets everything in light of their belief, and anything which cannot be used to affirm it is challenged, reinterpreted, or outright denied. This is why, when our mind is darkened, as it were, by bad or erroneous beliefs, our vision of the world will be engulfed in that darkness that Jesus said would be great: “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matt. 6:22-23 RSV).

As the darkness cannot entirely snuff out the light, because, when it is confronted with the light, it will recede, so the light of truth can slowly change our beliefs. What we wrongly believed, when put into that light, will be shown to be false, allowing us to reject it. And so, the more we let in that light, the better we will be able to perceive the truth as it is, and our interpretation of what we have apprehended will also become better.

Christ is the light of the world. Hopefully, we will let him in so we can be enlightened by the light of his grace. When we do so, that light will give us insight into the world around us, insight which will help us not only believe, but to have faith, so that we act on it and not just know it like demons. Once we have truly been enlightened, we will no longer let anyone or anything get in the way of our service, such as the things of the world which would keep is in ignorance, or those things which we can hold to and become so attached to that they interfere with further reception of God’s light and grace. This is why Christ warned us “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt. 5:24 RSV). For the love of mammon keeps us attached to it, cutting us off from the light of Christ, thereby keeping us in the dark, fumbling around, trying to obtain more and more money, thinking that will satisfy us and give us what we need. But it cannot; so long as we treat it as the lord of our life, we will know no peace. All we will do is continue to seek for more and more money, more and more goods of the earth, thinking we will eventually find ourselves satisfied. But, we will find, no matter how much we obtain, it will never be enough, it will never satisfy us. It is only when we turn to Christ, when we walk with faith in Christ, and let the grace and teaching of Christ guide us, that we will have the light we need to attain true peace: “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1 RSV). For, it is by our faith, by the way we hold onto and follow Christ,that we will obtain what we need for peace. This is why we have been told, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well” (Matt. 5:33 RSV).

The kingdom of God is all around us, within us, and transcends us; it is from whence we came and where we are going. All that we need, all that we shall want, comes from it, and so shall be found in and with it. Walking with faith, letting Christ’s teachings serve as our guide, will help us experience the kingdom. In it, we will find all we shall want, and that our desire shall be fulfilled, not just for a short time, like material goods do, but in eternity. It is in light of the kingdom of God we can look to the way we should live on the earth. Christ reminds us that God cares for every living thing, showing us that God has provided them a world in which they can find what they need to live; we, as a society, have what we need around us, too, if only we know how to use it (in the light of Christ and Christ’s teachings), and even if it is not properly used because of the darkness of sin, we can believe that in the eternal kingdom of God, where there is no sin, there will be no obstacle to us having our every need met:

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these (Matt. 5:26-29 RSV).

Christ wants us to look at the way we use and engage temporal goods, making sure we do so with charity and justice; it is not that we do not need food, shelter, clothing, and the like, it is how we use them, how we understand them and their worth, which is important. The goods of the earth are transitory; they last only for a short time before they are gone. They are important, as we need them to live, but their value is relative. What God offers us in and through the kingdom of God is greater than them, because what Christ offers is eternal. Christ is not telling us, as some might think, to ignore our needs, but to look at them in the right perspective; for when we do not, we make more out of them then we should, leading us to act in ways which are unbalanced, as unbalanced as our perspective on them suggests. This can be seen in the way gluttons engage food, or the avaricious with money. They not only want more than they need, they want an amount which becomes harmful to have. The relative value of the goods of the earth, their transitory nature, shows us why we should not treat them as absolutes, for when we do, we will lift them up and put them in the way of Christ’s light. If, on the other hand, we let them serve their proper function, to be goods, not only for us, but for all in need, we will find they do not get in the way of following the light of Christ, but help us do so, making sure we have what we need so that as we live, we can follow the path of love, the path which leads to peace.

Stay in touch! Like A Little Bit of Nothing on Facebook.
If you liked what you read, please consider sharing it with your friends and family!

N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

General Christian

Grace

Light

Previous Post

June 11, 2026

What Is The Way Of The Kingdom Of God?

Next Post

June 15, 2026 Alien Life Wouldn’t Destroy Religious Belief Systems

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"First things first is the easiest way forward. "If someone is bleeding profusely, we must ..."

Dr.Cajetan Coelho

Why We Must Embrace Empathy, Sympathy ..."

"Gosh, did that hit the spot. I have been having great anxiety lately. And I ..."

Mark Wilson

Rejecting Doom: Christian Hope And Human ..."

"Justice and peace are two sides of the same coin. Where there is justice, there ..."

Dr.Cajetan Coelho

Justice First, Charity Beyond It: Serving ..."

"Thank you for your very, very powerful and very, very insightful analysis of the relationship ..."

alwayspuzzled

Justice First, Charity Beyond It: Serving ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Abraham abuse Aesthetics AI Aliens Ambrose Ancestors and Everything Andrew Angels Animals Anne Anthony Antisemitism apologetics Apophatic Apostle John Aquinas Artificial Intelligence Asanga Ascension Asceticism Assumption Atheism Attachment Augustine Authority Avarice Balthasar Baptism Beauty Biden birthright citizenship Bishops Black History Books Buddhism Bulgakov Byzantine Calendar C.S. Lewis Calcidius Catholic Catholicism Catholicism Celibacy Charity Chastity children Chrismation Christ Christmas Christology Church Climate Change Common Good Communion Confession Confirmation Conscience Constantine conventions conversion councils Covid Creation Cross Dead Death Death Penalty Debate Deception Demagogues Demons Desert Monks Desert Mothers Desire destruction development Dialogue Dignity Dionsyius Dionysius Discipline Diversity Division Doctor Who doctrine dogma Dormition Dualism Easter Easter Series Ecumenical Councils Ecumenism Education Election Empathy Environment Error Eschatology eschaton Eternity Ethics Eucharist Evangelism Eve Evil evolution Faeries Faith Fear femininity Ficino Florence Florensky Folktale Fools Forgiveness Freedom Future gender Gentile Gentiles Glory Gnostic God gods Good Samaritan Goodness Gospel Government Grace Great Fast Guns Halloween Hate healing Health Heaven Hell Hellenism Heresy Hierarchy Hildegard Hinduism History Holiness Holy Spirit Holy Week Hope Horror Human rights humanity Humility hypocrisy ICE icon icons Identification Identity Idol II Nicea Immigration incarnation Individualism Informal Reflections Inklings Intention Inter-Religious Interfaith Internet Interpretation Intrinsic evil Irenaeus Islam Israel Jacob Jerome Jesus Jews John Chrysostom John of Damascus John the Baptist Joseph Judaism justice Justification kenosis Kindnesss Kingdom of God Kingdom of Heaven Law Law of Moses Lazarus Leaf by Niggle Lent Lenten Reflection Liberation Theology Lies Life Listen Literature Liturgy locutions Logic Logos Love Marriage Martyrs Mary Mass Maximos The Confessor Meanness Meditation Mercy Middle Path Migrants Mind Miracles Miriam Morals Moses Movies Music Muslims Myths Names Nationalism Native Americans New Year Nicea Nicholas Nothing Novatian Obedience Occam's Razor Ordination Origen Original Sin Orthodox orthopraxis Pagans Palamas Palm Sunday Paradise Paschaltide Paul Peace Pentecost person Peter piety PKD Plato pluralism Plurality Poem Poetry Poiltics Politics Poor Pope Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV Post Office Prayer Pride Pro-life Prodigal Son propaganda Prophecy Prophets Providence Putin Racism Reading Reason Reflection Refugees Relationships Religion Religion Series Religious Liberty Repent Republicans Rest Resurrection Rich Rites Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation Salvian Santa Science Scripture Self-Giving Sexuality Sibyl Sick Silence Sin Singlehood Social Justice Society Sodom Solovyov Speculations Spiritual Reflection St. Cyril of Alexandria St. Justin Martyr Suffering Sunday of the Paralytic Man Sunday of the Samaritan Woman Superhero Supreme Court Teaching Technology Thanksgiving The Father the Universe Theological Reflection Theology Theosis Theotokos Thomas Timaeus Time Tolerenace Tolkien Tradition Transfiguration Trinity Trump Truth Uncategorized Unity Universities USCCB Vainglory Value Vatican II Vegetarian Vices Violence Virtue Vocations War Water Welcome Wisdom Womanhood Women Work World View Worship Writing Zacchaeus

Select a Month November 2026 October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz