Marveling at Jesus

I absolutely marvel at Jesus’ ability to make the right decisions in the worst circumstances. The more I read the gospels, the more amazed I get.

I’ve recently been thinking about one of my weaknesses; or more specifically, my ability to get short with people and sometimes get downright mean. No, it doesn’t happen all that often. It usually only happens when I’m annoyed, tired, hurting, confused, or whatever. Sometimes, when an apology is needed… I blame it on all on those conditions. ‘I’m really sorry for snapping at you, my head is just really hurting right now… I don’t feel like myself.’

But then I read about Jesus, and I see that he went through the exact type of circumstances that I go through… and he ALWAYS made the right decision. Which tells me that I can no longer use excuses like: I’m tired, or in pain, or anything else that I tend to use to make me feel better for acting like a jerk. For instance:

I really get annoyed when someone tells me how to do my job. Jesus had people telling Him how to do His job throughout His whole ministry. Even all of His disciples would have preferred that He would be a political leader that would save the Jews from Rome’s authority. But, Jesus never let that get in the way of loving His disciples.

Recently, one of my teeth has been bothering me. I’m going to get a root canal soon. The pain starts in my mouth and shoots up the right side of my head. I get really crabby until I can get some meds in me. Jesus had been beaten about as severely as a man can be beaten without dying… He had nails stuck in his hands and feet… He was wearing a crown of thorns… yet He still displayed a forgiving, gracious, and loving spirit while on the cross.

When I am at my most productive in the office, I absolutely hate distractions. Come to think of it… even when I am not productive, I hate distractions. It puts me in a bad mood. Jesus almost seemed to thrive on distractions… there are several good reasons for that which I’ll explore in another post, but the point here is this: He didn’t allow distractions to ruin His day, or cause Him to be any less generous with people… He did not allow distractions to annoy Him to the point of saying mean things or being impatient to the people around Him.

I really have a hard time loving people that have an opinion of me that they are willing to share with everybody but me. In fact, there have been people in the past that I have just avoided talking to altogether because of this type of thing. My excuse: ‘I just don’t have time for people who act this way.’ Jesus rebuked these types of people, but He still loved them… He still tried to teach them… He still dealt with them… He didn’t avoid them. So much for my trying to justify avoiding people like this…

In the very honest moments of my life, there are times when I don’t even want to treat people like Jesus did. I mean, it seems like He gave people too much credit. His way is harder. You have to deal with difficult people if you follow His method. You can't just avoid people that tork you off. Hardest of all... you are expected to love those people that tork you off. My way is so much easier...

And then I remember that the heart of God beats for people. His heart is broken for those who are broken. He is desperately searching for those who are lost. He IS LOVE. Not to be confused with ‘God is lovING.’ That doesn’t cut it. God IS THE definition of love. His very essence is love. It’s not just something He does, or shows… Love is what He IS.

With that in mind… it’s time for me to be a better steward of the relationships that He has put in my life. It’s time for me to put aside the excuses that make me feel better about my rotten attitude towards people. It’s time to put aside my comfort level and start seeking to build people up, regardless of how I feel about them or how they’ve treated me. It’s time for me to start modeling His love...