Walking Like Jesus

Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.
-Proverbs 31:28

Do you think of your life between the secular and the spiritual? If you work in the ministry, you may tend to categorize the ministry and the not ministry, or the church and the world. But should we have such a separation?

Jesus in us means Jesus living in us. You may not think about this often, but imagine you being Jesus right now. You reach to get a drink of your coffee, and you see Jesus’ hand wrap around the handle. Bringing it up to your lips, you imagine Jesus leaning forward a little as he brings the cup to His mouth and allows the coffee to pass through His lips; a little splash on His tongue and a slow swallow (don’t think about the beard and mustache, that’s just weird). This scenario may be extreme but stay with me.

It’s early morning, and you are sitting in your comfy chair reading your Bible, or maybe you are in a rush getting ready for work or busy with the kids as you tend to them. But then your activity is suddenly interrupted by a phone call, someone else demanding your attention, or an unplanned disaster. How do you react? Or should I say, how does Jesus react?

Well, I don’t know what your answer to that question is, although I think it would be a good exercise to consider; I can tell you what my reaction is often.

Not friendly, to say the least. I mean, me without Jesus.

In fact, as I’m writing this, The Farmer (my affectionate term for my hubby) came in to talk. Usually, when I am writing, he doesn’t interrupt, but I guess God thought it would be great for me to have a “for example”.

So, for example, I had finished my Bible study, my payer, my research, and I had forced myself off of social media. I fixed myself a cup of coffee and sat down to finish this post before my self-inflicted deadline. Zoning in on my writing, I hear The Farmer pacing behind me. As I turn to see if he needs me or if he is just trying to get in his steps for today, I sense the Lord challenging me to respond as He would respond. I mean, I wasn’t planning to yell at The Farmer or criticize him for disturbing my writing time, but I realized my normal calm response felt different from consciously being like Jesus.

Being Like Jesus

Me being in Jesus mode, if you will, at that moment felt differently. In Jesus, I wanted to lean into what my husband was saying. I wanted to look into his eyes and let him know that my attention was on him only. In Jesus, I felt whatever he had to say was the most important thing at this moment in time. Walking in Jesus was more tender, kind, and respectful.

Of course, we cannot walk like Jesus until He is in us. Our relationship with the Father is dependent on our relationship with Jesus. When we accept the Father’s gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus, He also gives us another gift, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is Jesus in us. If we allow Him, He will lean into the conversation, He will show honor and respect to those we are relating to, and He will love them through us as we have never loved before.

Living The Ordinary Like Jesus

What would be different in your life if you lived the ordinary moments being like Jesus? As you do your day-to-day activities, imagine Jesus doing them and consider if something would be different.

How would you: