Summary of the Commands Jesus gave the most

Summary of the Commands Jesus gave the most.

I had a friend recently send me some verses on giving to the needy, and I wondered if this was really the focus of Jesus' teaching (it is). So I looked back to the Commands of Jesus that I posted back in October / November 2008 to see what Commands Jesus gave the most (as reported by His disciples in the Gospels). If you believe as I do that repetition is done for emphasis, then the fact of some commands being given more than others is to stress their importance. And yes, the single most repeated Command of Jesus is to love others by giving to the needy and to have generosity (24 times). But close behind it is the Command to 'Listen' (22 times), for example Jesus taught that we should listen and give special attention to the Scriptures. Another interesting fact is that Jesus did not teach repeatedly that we should not murder, nor lie, nor steal. These are only mentioned a couple of times each. But what was the main sin Jesus taught most about? We are taught not to have fear, doubt and being anxious (10 times). And overall, Jesus' Commands dealt much less significantly with Sin than with His Commands on loving others. I broke down the Commands of Jesus into three main categories, and here are the top five Commands from each category:

I.    Commands of Jesus – by Obedience to God;

1. Listen / Give Special Attention to / Remember – taught 22 times;
   
2. Believe / Faith – 15 times;
   
3. Pray / Prayer – 13 times;
   
4. Abide in God / Jesus – 6 times;
   
5. Forsake / Renounce / Surrender all – 6 times.
   

II.    Commands of Jesus – involving fruit and others;

1. Love Others / Giving – taught 24 times;
   
2. Love others – 19 times;
   
3. Virtue – Love others / Family -19 times;
   
4. Virtue / Moral Behavior – 15 times;
   
5. Love Others – Evangelize – 13 times.
   

III.    Sin – Commandments enjoining / Guard Against;

1. Do not be anxious / doubt / fear / indecision – taught 10 times;
   
2. Do not commit adultery – 5 times;
   
3. Avoid world entanglement – 5 times;
   
4. Do not divorce – 4 times;
   
5. Selfish ambition – 4 times.
   

And Jesus also gave us the number one reason of why we should we follow His Commands, and this is contained in John 14:15 - If you love Me, keep My commandments. If you would like the verse lists for any of the Commands, feel free to contact me, and I can get them to you. May God bless you this week. /s/Tom