Jesus intended for us to follow his example. He said:
Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am. (3 Nephi 27:27)
...Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you. (3 Nephi 18:16)
Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do... (3 Nephi 18:24)
...Be ye holy; for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:16)
We are meant to live in the same manner he did.
One challenge in doing so is knowing what he would do in our place. While scriptural accounts provide stories from his life, those stories don’t directly map to every situation in our own lives. Missionary work is different than daily life, and modern life is quite different than ancient life.
The missing key in beginning to better understand what Jesus would do in your place is transcending from specifics to general principles. The stories from the life of Jesus are directly applicable in the unlikely event you find yourself in the same exact situation, but the principles they demonstrate are applicable in every situation.
The need to extract principles from particular stories is an essential task. Jesus said that what he had taught and done provided enough examples from which the character of the Father could be fully derived. In fact, he said they were so ample that anyone who knew them had seen the Father!7 It was the Father’s principles—not specific actions —that Jesus was referring to when he spoke of how the Father had shown him his character.8
The most important principles the Lord learned from the Father are:
There are two challenges in living these principles. The first and most obvious is that they require a consummate dedication. The second and most practical is that they require a level of understanding that very few possess. What love means and how it is applied, how God is, what a totality of heart, might, mind, and strength requires, and how God loves you are all mysteries that require a great deal of faith to uncover. However, it is possible to describe the implementation of these principles in exceedingly plain language: Be the best person you can be and help others become the best people they can be. This is done by seeking, developing, obtaining, and giving what has the greatest longterm net benefit. This plain statement does not instantly confer a perfect understanding of how to live these principles, but it does instantly provide a perfectly successive path towards that perfect understanding, as well as instantly provide the next step in that direction, and it does so more than an entire lifetime of typical religious teaching would. A paradigm of improvement will vastly accelerate your efforts in learning what Jesus would do in your place.
Footnotes
- 1. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. (James 2:19) ↩
- 2. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. (James 1:22) ↩
- 3. So Jesus was saying to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word [continually obeying My teachings and living in accordance with them, then] you are truly My disciples. (John 8:31, AMP) ↩
- 4. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9) And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them. (2 Nephi 31:9) ↩
- 5. ...Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (2 Timothy 2:19) And if ye believe on his name ye will repent of all your sins, that thereby ye may have a remission of them through his merits. (Helaman 14:13) ↩
- 6. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him. (John 3:36, RSV) ↩
- 7. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (John 14:4-12) ↩
- 8. I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. (John 8:26) For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth.... (John 5:20) I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. (John 8:38) Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. (John 5:19) For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. (John 12:49) But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence. (John 14:31) ↩