Yeshua Our Example

Jesus saw sin as wrong but also was able to see sin as springing from deep and unmet needs on the part of the sinner. This permitted him to condemn the sin without condemning the individual. We also can show our love for others even when we... are called upon to correct them. We need to be able to look deeply enough into the lives of others to see the basic causes for their failures and shortcomings. Then help them. He accepted the repentant and readily forgave them. He never held a grudge against the many who persecuted him and wanted to do him harm during his ministry. He even forgave those who killed him. Although he was a forgiving man, he refused to tolerate irreverence to God and drove the moneychangers and merchants from the temple. He had the courage to take a stand against what is wrong. Christ was the greatest teacher who ever taught. He made known the greatest truths ever learned. He revealed the meaning of life, the way to success, and the secret of happiness. And all that he taught was focused on eternal life. He preached no telestial program. He was too busy to preach a terrestrial way of life. His whole message was focused on celestial life. It was his constant theme and he followed it explicitly. His example showed us that isn't enough to simply abstain from temptation and wrong-doing. We must fill our lives with good acts and service to others. Each of us has more opportunities to do good and to be good than we ever use. These opportunities lie all around us. Righteousness requires action. People tend often to measure their righteousness by the absence of wrong acts in their lives, as if passivity were the end of being. But Christ's example shows us we should grow and progress and to serve others. We must remember that those we meet in parking lots, offices, elevators, and elsewhere are that portion of mankind God has given us to love and to serve. It will do us little good to speak of the general brotherhood of mankind if we cannot regard those who are all around us as our brothers and sisters. A man can ask no more important question in his life than that which Paul asked: "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" (See Acts 9:6.) A man can take no greater action than to pursue a course that will bring to him the answer to that question and then to carry out that answer. What would the Lord Jesus Christ have us do? He has answered that question by saying, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48), and, "Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily, I say unto you, even as I am" (3 Nephi 27:27). Some men are willing to die for their faith, but they are not willing to fully live for it. Christ both lived and died for us. By walking in His steps and through His atonement, we can gain the greatest gift of all -- eternal life.

Bits and Pieces from Christ Our Example