On John Wesley's 12 Rules of Conduct

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I am currently reading a book titled God's Generals by Robert Liardon. It is truly inspiring learning about the history of the church, learning about great men of God and how it all began for them and their ministeries.


I am still at the very beginning, reading about John and Charles Wesley and today I want to write down John Wesley's twelve rules of conduct which he laid down for the preachers/ministers he ordained. You may not have a pulpit but everyone is called to be a minister i.e everyone is called to bear witness to the person and the works of Jesus Christ, so here goes:
  1. Be diligent. Never unemployed a minute.
  2. Be serious. Avoid all lightness and jesting.
  3. Converse sparingly with women, particularly young women.
  4. Take no step toward marriage without first consulting with the brethren.
  5. Believe evil of no one.
  6. Speak evil of no one.
  7. Tell everyone what you think wrong in him, "and that plainly, as soon as may be; else it will fester in your heart. Make all haste to cast the fire out of your bosom
  8. Do not [act]...the gentleman. (Do not put on airs)
  9. Be ashamed of nothing but sin: not fetching wood...nor drawing water.
  10. Be punctual. Do everything exactly on time.
  11. It is not your business to preach so many times, and to take care of this and that society, but to save as many souls as you can.
  12. Act in all things, not according to your own will, but as a son in the Gospel.


Reading through some of these excerpts brings a few verses to mind.  Point 1 reminds me of 2 Timothy 2:15, and point 3 would apply to women also.  I agree especially with point 2, mostly because am bad at jokes and remembering Solomon's words in Ecclesiastes 5:6 (too often times we excuse our mistakes by saying we were only joking) and Ephesians 5:4. If we all observed point 5 and 6, there would be no gossiping. I could go on and on to expound on scriptures which support the points given by John, but I will stop here today.


Of course these excerpts are subject to your interpretation. I have no objection to anyone of them, as they all  have been written in love and goodwill. If you object to anyone, please check your heart, take yourself out of the equation and ask your self this one question; 1. Is it favorable to my neighbor? 


These twelve rules of conduct were copied out from page 82 of God's General (The Revivalists) by Robert Liardon.

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