#60: WWJHMD?

I was thinking recently about the oft-quoted Christian phrase "What Would Jesus Do?" (commonly abbreviated as "WWJD?"), which is intended to remind us to think of what Christ would do and then to respond accordingly when making choices. Over the years I have tried  to live up to the phrase, but I honestly cannot think of a single day in which I have been completely successful at it. In fairness to myself, I have had many days where I have made good choices, but I cannot truthfully say that I have ever been able to look back at the end of a day and tell myself that I did exactly what Jesus would have done. Hopefully, I am not the only one that has ever felt that way.

This thought made me a little discouraged as I realized that I could not fully live up to the standard. Jesus was so perfectly loving, obedient, and forgiving that the idea of trying to be like him became daunting. I love Him  and want to follow His example, but with my current capacities I don't know if I could ever truly live up to His goodness. I am not perfect and in this life I never will be, but as I thought about this, I received an impression that perhaps I just needed to modify the phrase a bit. Rather than asking myself what Jesus would do, instead I can ask myself "What would Jesus HAVE ME do?"

This may not seem like a huge distinction, but it gave me a lot of hope and peace of mind. Even though I am not perfect, I CAN try to do what He would want me to do. Jesus likely wouldn't spend the majority of his time each week working as an accountant, but I think He is okay that I do as long as I work with integrity and try to support my family. Jesus probably wouldn't spend his vacation time going to Disneyland, but I think He is okay that I do if I use the opportunity to create memories with family and friends. And Jesus almost certainly wouldn't have a blog combining the gospel and Star Wars, but I think He is okay that I do as long as I remember to keep in mind the purpose of trying to bring people to Him.

So, I guess the point of all this is that if you ever become discouraged when asking yourself WWJD?, maybe you can try WWJHMD? instead. Thanks and have a great week.