When Jesus was preaching the Sermon on the Mount, he seemed to introduce so many new concepts and ideas that many marveled at his words. In reality, he was expanding what had been continually taught from the beginning of time. His exhortations on righteousness and righteous living pointed to God, to faith, to prayer, to resilient living.
Well, he didn’t quite mention “resilient living” but his focus and teaching all expressed ways to strengthen our spiritual efforts through renewed dedication to God, to humility, and to righteous living. He emphasized thoughts and minds pointed towards God; he insisted on integrity, not judging others, and being genuine in our spiritual practice.
I see this as resilient living. I also connect this concept to “self reliance”. When Christ taught the people, he urged them to turn their spiritual efforts towards personal efforts of faith, prayer, and fasting. He taught the people (and all of us) to be better, to direct our efforts and our faith towards God. He taught, “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33). All his teachings focused on how we become more resilient, more self-reliant spiritually, when we centre our spiritual practice on developing stronger faith in God.
How do we become more self-reliant and resilient spiritually? Perhaps even temporally? Jesus reiterated and exemplified our need to lift those who are oppressed: to feed the hungry, nurture those needing comfort, succor the poor, and serve those in need. Jesus served others by feeding them, healing them, comforting them, and teaching them. He showed us through his example how to have compassion, how to not judge, how to give of ourselves. He showed us how to develop resilience and become properly self-reliant in our faith, by serving and loving others, and creating community. He told us and showed us how to work together, and that this is how we become more resilient.
Self-reliance is not about doing everything by ourselves, and not asking for help or support. It’s about building our faith in Jesus and God by creating that community and support through serving those in need and developing more compassion for others.
Resilience and Self Reliance
