Following in His Steps

Let no man despise thy youth; but be

Thou an example of the believers,

In word, in conversation, in charity,

In spirit, in faith, in purity.

I Timothy 4:12

I tried to be friendly.  Saying hello or smiling while passing her in the hall.  Most of the time she never acknowledged me.  Just kept on walking.  I must admit I didn’t understand her unfriendliness.  The snub hurt. One day while cleaning out closets at home I ran across some material I was planning to make a quilt out of “someday”.  Of course, the “someday” was several years ago and I could visualize many more years perhaps before the  magical “someday” would arrive.  Upon finding the material, suddenly I remembered having heard from a co-worker that this person liked to sew.  Immediately the thought crossed my mind to give it to her.  Just as immediately I remembered how cold and unfriendly she was toward me.  But then I thought, well, just because she’s not nice to me doesn’t mean that I should be unkind to her.  If anything this was a reason to be different.

Then another thought entered into my mind.  How would Jesus want me to be and what would He have me to do?  The answer was clear.  All His answers are.  So I gathered the material and put it in a bag.  I wrote a note telling her I hoped it was something she could use to make something beautiful, and the next day, left the bag on her desk.  Later in the morning, she came by my desk and thanked me, and offered to help teach me how to quilt.  While we have yet to become close friends, I have peace in my heart knowing that I did what I feel Jesus would have done. He always knows the best way to handle all things.

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor,

And hate thine enemy.  But I say unto you, love your enemies,

Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you,

And pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

That ye may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven;

For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good,

And sendeth rain on the just and unjust.

For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?

Do not even the publicians the same?

And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?

Do not even the the publicians so?

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which in Heaven is perfect.

Matthew 5:43-48

A few years back, there was a  phrase  that became popular for a short time, and appeared on many items.  The phrase was “What Would Jesus Do? The fad has since passed for the world, but this question should never be far from the mind of a Christian as the commands of Jesus are eternal.  The command Jesus gave us “to do unto others as we would have them do unto us” is still as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago.  As is His “for us to love each other, to be kind and tenderhearted, and forgiving one another”. While we often try to live as Christians in what we consider the big important things, do not murder, do not steal, do not lie, do not commit adultery, and other sins, we often forget that Christ also expects us to be examples of Christians in the little things in life too, for He was involved in them as well, and they too testified of Him.

As I was stung by the unfriendliness and coldness of my co-worker, it would have been  easy to not make any attempt to be friendly to her.  And it would have been easy to do unto her as she did unto me,.  But it would not have been very Christ-like. Nor would I have felt very Christ-like or enjoyed the fruit  of His peace if I had responded in a carnal way and in the spirit of the world.  Christ gave us an example in Himself how we should live, and in so doing, live a happy life.  For I have given you an example , that ye should do as I have done to you. John 13:15

When did Jesus say this?  He said it after having washed the feet of one of his disciples.  In a manner one might see this as being an insignificant event not worthy of being included in the Bible.  But it was not the thing Jesus did, the actual washing of the disciples feet that was so important, but what the act of doing so revealed about the heart of Jesus.  This is what is so important.  Jesus’ action revealed the heart of a humble servant, one who was willing to give, one who was without great pride.  As Jesus’ action spoke volumes about who He was, so do our actions speak volumes about who we are, or rather, whose we are.  May our actions today and everyday help others to see who He is through who we are, and to see His heart in ours as we live in Him, and try to follow in His steps….

Copyright © 2005 By Nancye Sims

For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ

Also suffered for us, leaving us an example,

That ye should follow in his steps:

Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

Who when he was  reviled, reviled not again;

When he suffered, he threatened not;

But committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body

On the tree, that we, being dead to sin,

Should live unto righteousness:

By whose strips ye were healed.

I Peter 2:21

The author, Nancye Sims, may be contacted at  .