The General Rules

John Wesley, founder of Methodism

John Wesley had several sets of rules and questions he used to develop disciples. Some were very complex. Others were very simple.

The simplest set of rules are the Three Simple Rules. These have been described in detail by Bishop Rueben Job in his book, Three Simple Rules.

The rules are these: Do no harm, Do good, stay in love with God. They take only a minute or two to memorize, but you can spend the rest of your life practicing them.

Do No Harm

Wesley meant by this the general avoidance of sinning. Taking the Lord’s name in vain was on his list, as was drunkenness, slander, and violence against one’s neighbor. The list got to be rather long, but it all came down to doing no harm to one’s neighbor, one’s self, or one’s God.

Do Good

No one is good except God, Jesus says — not even Jesus himself, according to Mark 10:18. Even though we cannot be completely good doesn’t mean we cannot do good at all. This includes caring for one’s neighbor, changing the world to be a more just and beautiful place, and creating opportunities for God’s love to be known and shared.

Stay in Love with God

Francis Asbury, one of the first two American Bishops of the Methodist Church

Loving God isn’t a romantic mish-mash of emotions. Even in marriage, love is a commitment and it means a lot of hard work. To love one’s spouse means attending to his or her needs, demonstrating affection, and doing all the things that make for a better relationship. The same is true with God. Where one might attend to a spouse’s needs, we attend to our duties and opportunities to worship God and devote ourselves to God’s teachings. We demonstrate affection towards God by loving our neighbors. And we tend to the relationship we have with God by sacrificing our time to simply dwell in God’s presence.

While these rules are simple and elegant, they bear studying on deeper levels. Join us at Mayfield First United Methodist Church for weekly opportunities to follow these Simple Rules to a better life in Jesus Christ.