Becoming Human: Core Teachings of Jesus

Christians and non-Christians alike have long recognized that Jesus’ life was characterized by vibrancy, love, commitment, clarity, and joy. We all yearn to share in these traits, and by studying Jesus we can discern that he sees in us the potential to become as he was. After all, Jesus didn’t go around asking people to believe certain things about him—he invited them to follow him into the abundant life he wanted to share. Brian C. Taylor focuses on the fresh, immediate, liberating quality of what Jesus had to say about life. “His guidance about how to live struck me to the core,” Taylor writes. Taylor’s succinct summations of what Jesus taught—Don’t worry; Love everybody; Help the poor; Become simple; Face into conflict; Change the world; Forgive yourself for being human, and so on—provide the basis for this series of reflections on the transformative wisdom that inspired those who had ears to hear to drop everything and follow him. Jesus continues to astonish and transform those who hear him, and Becoming Human is a deep well of wisdom for any who wish to give glory to God by becoming fully alive.