WWJD, and HWJDI?

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The WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?)–trend reached its height in the 1990’s, although it’s still very much around.

Answering the question, “What would Jesus do?” is not too difficult for Christians. After all, Jesus gave us the Great Commandments and the Great Commission that directly answer the question:

“One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-34)

“Go into the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15)

Easy enough, right? Love God, love others, and tell the world about Jesus. That’s WJWD. But most of the time, we need more guidance. We need to know HWJDI–How Would Jesus Do It? And sometimes–a good deal of the time–it’s not as simple as it sounds. Here are a few basic–not necessarily easy–ideas.

Love God

  1. Pray: Prayer is a way of developing your relationship with God. When we pray, He listens. Prayer invites the Holy Spirit into our lives. 
  2. Read the Bible: The Bible teaches us that God’s character is unchanging, faithful, and loving. Reading God’s word re-aligns our thinking so that we can become mature Christians. We’re in a daily battle with Satan, and reading the Bible is one of our most powerful weapons!
  3. Tithe: Tithing is a way to show that we trust God with our lives as well as our finances. Financial guru Dave Ramsey writes that “tithing isn’t for God’s benefit. He doesn’t need our money. Instead, tithing is meant for our benefit, because sacrificing a portion of our income reminds us to rely on God to meet our needs.”
  4. Worship with others: Do we have to worship with others in order to be good Christians? No, but we’re missing another powerful weapon in our battle with Satan if we try to go it alone. When we worship together, we support one another in our faith journeys. 

Love others

  1. Serve others: Pray for them. Share and give to those in need. Offer to take the cranky old woman next door to the grocery store. Take a meal to someone who is struggling. 
  2. Don’t speak poorly about others: Jesus tells us “that everyone will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every empty word he has spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36-37)
  3. Don’t judge: Does this even need an explanation? If you need Biblical backup, here are 100 Bible verses about judging others. 
  4. Practice forgiveness: No one ever said it would be easy, but it stands to reason that if we expect God to forgive us of our looooong lists of sins, we should be able to forgive others. 

Preach the gospel to all creation:

Does Jesus really expect us to uproot our families and move to the other side of the globe to preach the gospel? For some people, the answer is yes. Some are called to be missionaries.

But many of us are called to be truck drivers, teachers, preachers, plumbers, doctors, plumbers, and writers. And even teachers, plumbers, etc. can spread the gospel.

Another way to spread the gospel worldwide? The internet! If you’re reading this article, you already know how to use this powerful tool.

The internet allows us to go instantaneously to any part of the world–to meet people, and tell them about Jesus. Nelson Musonda writes that evangelism through social media “…will allow you share the gospel with people who may never hear it from another source.”

To conclude, let’s get back to WWJD and HWJDI. We know what Jesus would do–it’s what He’s always done. He loves us, forgives us, and saves us. The challenge for each of us is to figure out how Jesus would do it, and to get busy being His hands and feet. 

 

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