Do you have days when your attitude needs to change? I do. This past week. Then I read these verses about walking as Jesus walked.
But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
1 John 2:5-6, NKJV
I don’t recall Jesus having a poor attitude.
To me, the above verses say that when we keep God’s word, we are showing our obedience to Him and that we truly know and love Him. Through our obedience, His love is then perfected or made complete in us. If we claim we are His, we ought to walk in the same way that Jesus walked by following His example and living as He did.
How did Jesus walk? What examples did He leave for us to follow?
Here are a few instances of Jesus offering love, acceptance, and forgiveness.
In John 8 we read of the woman caught in adultery. The Pharisees wanted to stone her. Jesus told the crowd that whoever had never sinned could throw the first stone. The Pharisees slipped away, and only Jesus and the woman remained. He didn’t condemn her—He forgave her.
We read the story of the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in John 4. Jesus didn’t criticize her for having had five husbands and living with a man who she was not married to. He accepted her and forgave her.
And what better model is there about forgiveness than when Jesus forgave His accusers and killers?
Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.
Luke 23:34, NKJV
Besides offering love, acceptance, and forgiveness, Jesus modeled obedience when He surrendered Himself to God’s will. After the Last Supper, Jesus prayed this on the Mount of Olives:
Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me;
nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.
Luke 22:42, NKJV
His time of arrest, suffering, and death soon followed.
Jesus modeled servanthood in John 13 when he washed his disciples’ feet and when he carried out the ultimate sacrifice—His death on the cross.
Jesus also met the needs of others by sharing God’s truths, calming the storm, and feeding the hungry.
Am I called to do any less?
Will it be easy? No. But so worth it!
Lord, I desire to keep your word and walk as you walked—in love, acceptance, forgiveness, obedience, surrender, servanthood, and by meeting the needs of others. Guide my steps, Lord. I desire to always abide in You.
Photo by Arek Adeoye - Unsplash