LESSON 1: Mastering The Art of Living
Sadler - Section: Avoid Frightening People
Never be guilty of such unworthy tactics as endeavoring to frighten men and women into the kingdom. A loving father does not frighten his children into yielding obedience to his just requirements. 159:3.5
MASTERING THE ART OF LIVING
The more complex civilization becomes, the more difficult will become the art of living. The more rapid the changes in social usage, the more complicated will become the task of character development. Every ten generations mankind must learn anew the art of living if progress is to continue. And if man becomes so ingenious that he more rapidly adds to the complexities of society, the art of living will need to be remastered in less time, perhaps every single generation. If the evolution of the art of living fails to keep pace with the technique of existence, humanity will quickly revert to the simple urge of living— the attainment of the satisfaction of present desires. Thus will humanity remain immature; society will fail in growing up to full maturity. 160:1.3
KNOWING GOD AS A FATHER
Jesus is the spiritual lens in human likeness which makes visible to the material creature Him who is invisible. He is your elder brother who, in the flesh, makes known to you a Being of infinite attributes whom not even the celestial hosts can presume fully to understand. But all of this must consist in the personal experience of the individual believer. God who is spirit can be known only as a spiritual experience. God can be revealed to the finite sons of the material worlds, by the divine Son of the spiritual realms, only as a Father. You can know the Eternal as a Father; you can worship him as the God of universes, the infinite Creator of all existences. 169:4.13
SELF-MASTERY
Verily, verily, I say to you, he who rules his own self is greater than he who captures a city. Self-mastery is the measure of man's moral nature and the indicator of his spiritual development. In the old order you fasted and prayed; as the new creature of the rebirth of the spirit, you are taught to believe and rejoice. In the Father's kingdom you are to become new creatures; old things are to pass away; behold I show you how all things are to become new. And by your love for one another you are to convince the world that you have passed from bondage to liberty, from death into life everlasting.
By the old way you seek to suppress, obey, and conform to the rules of living; by the new way you are first transformed by the Spirit of Truth and thereby strengthened in your inner soul by the constant spiritual renewing of your mind, and so are you endowed with the power of the certain and joyous performance of the gracious, acceptable, and perfect will of God. Forget not—it is your personal faith in the exceedingly great and precious promises of God that ensures your becoming partakers of the divine nature. Thus by your faith and the spirit's transformation, you become in reality the temples of God, and his spirit actually dwells within you. If, then, the spirit dwells within you, you are no longer bondslaves of the flesh but free and liberated sons of the spirit. The new law of the spirit endows you with the liberty of self-mastery in place of the old law of the fear of selfbondage and the slavery of self-denial. 143:2.3
Jesus' Attitude Toward Society
Jesus frequently warned his listeners against covetousness, declaring that ‘a man's happiness
consists not in the abundance of his material possessions.' He constantly reiterated, ‘What shall it
profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?' He made no direct attack on the
possession of property, but he did insist that it is eternally essential that spiritual values come
first. In his later teachings he sought to correct many erroneous Urantia views of life by narrating
numerous parables which he presented in the course of his public ministry. Jesus never intended
to formulate economic theories; he well knew that each age must evolve its own remedies for
existing troubles. And if Jesus were on earth today, living his life in the flesh, he would be a
great disappointment to the majority of good men and women for the simple reason that he
would not take sides in present-day political, social, or economic disputes. He would remain
grandly aloof while teaching you how to perfect your inner spiritual life so as to render you
manyfold more competent to attack the solution of your purely human problems. 140:8.17
Jesus' Love for Children
This year his seasons of deep meditation were often broken into by Ruth and her playmates.
And always was Jesus ready to postpone the contemplation of his future work for the world and
the universe that he might share in the childish joy and youthful gladness of these youngsters,
who never tired of listening to Jesus relate the experiences of his various trips to Jerusalem. They
also greatly enjoyed his stories about animals and nature.
The children were always welcome at the repair shop. Jesus provided sand, blocks, and stones
by the side of the shop, and bevies of youngsters flocked there to amuse themselves. When they
tired of their play, the more intrepid ones would peek into the shop, and if its keeper were not
busy, they would make bold to go in and say, ‘Uncle Joshua, come out and tell us a big story.'
Then they would lead him out by tugging at his hands until he was seated on the favorite rock by
the corner of the shop, with the children on the ground in a semicircle before him. And how the
little folks did enjoy their Uncle Joshua. They were learning to laugh, and to laugh heartily. It
was customary for one or two of the smallest of the children to climb upon his knees and sit
there, looking up in wonderment at his expressive features as he told his stories. The children
loved Jesus, and Jesus loved the children.
It was difficult for his friends to comprehend the range of his intellectual activities, how he
could so suddenly and so completely swing from the profound discussion of politics, philosophy,
or religion to the lighthearted and joyous playfulness of these tots of from five to ten years of
age. As his own brothers and sisters grew up, as he gained more leisure, and before the
grandchildren arrived, he paid a great deal of attention to these little ones. But he did not live on
earth long enough to enjoy the grandchildren very much. 128:6.10