If I Claim To Love The Lord....

What does it mean to live as Jesus did? What does it mean to love as He’d have us love?

If I claim to love the Lord, He is the sole example of the kind of person I am to be.

I can look back on the legacy He left for me and I can observe how He was. Who He was. Knowing, that is what I should also strive for.

And just what is that? Well, this is what I’ve observed from the life of Jesus while He walked on earth.

*He never spoke in anger.

*He loved all people. Of all types. Ugly. Beautiful. Rich. Poor. The outward appearance or social status didn’t matter at all to him. He was seen in the company of a corrupt tax collector, as well as a faithful follower.

*He had integrity. Honesty. God never lied.

*He was warm, compassionate, kind, GENTLE.

*He gave respect and earned respect.

*He didn’t stay at home. He went out into his neighborhood. His town. He travelled. All to tell people about the Lord.

*He never got drunk. He didn’t smoke. Or swear. In fact, He never partook in anything that was slightly controversial.

*He was loyal.

*He prayed. A Lot.

*He went to church. But He also studied God’s Word daily. He KNEW what God’s Word said so that when others tried to trip Him up or when Satan tried to use the Bible against Him, He knew when it was taken out of context.

*He didn’t pretend to be better than others. He was humble.

*He didn’t “water down” God’s Word. He spoke it like it was. And if others chose not to believe Him, He didn’t continue to try to please them. He just “was.” What He offered, He never forced anyone to accept or water it down for them. He let them make the choice.

*He took a day off. He rested. He knew when it was time to recharge His batteries.

*He was generous. Never selfish.

*He forgave easily. Quickly.

*He was never in a hurry. Never rushed anything.

*People never felt criticized by Him or condemned because of their sinful choices. No – merely loved.

*He was gracious and merciful.

There are so many more examples I could give of the kind of person Jesus was.

1 John 2:6 tells us, “Whoever claims to live in him, must live as Jesus did.”

That’s a tall order. But if we claim to live in Christ, it’s an order we need to try and fill.

Are you living as He did? Are you even trying?

I know you could argue that Jesus was perfect. And He was. But that perfection is still something that we can aspire to. We still aspire to have a perfectly beautiful, clean, and organized house and the fact that it will get messed up again doesn’t stop us. So why should striving to be perfect like Jesus, stop us? It’s not that hard to be generous. Not that hard to be honest. We can all study God’s Word daily. We can rest. Keep ourselves from being drunk.

It’s a choice.

I don’t know about you, but I claim to live in Christ. And I want to aspire to be like Him. I may need to work on some areas more than others – but I’m trying.

For I want to please Him. I want to please myself so that I have less to regret in life and more to be joyful about.

I want to – because He gave me the desire. And because I love Him so dearly. That’s what you do when you love someone. You aim to please them.

How about you?