by R. Douglas Williams

Created on: December 19, 2008   Last Updated: December 20, 2008

Jesus stands out in my mind as a truly good person. It is easy to find people being good to each other in this world for the sake of getting what they want. The ability to network is a marketable, not to mention entrepeneurial talent. But, to be good to people for the simple pleasure of it, while getting nothing material in return? This was characteristic of Jesus as He met people and built relationships.

The fact that Jesus didn't turn people away, even when he was physically drained sends a strong message to me about his goodness. Where we often govern our time so as to protect our privacy, Jesus opened his life to others and allowed them to invade his personal space. He recruited twelve men to live with him at all times, traveling to different places and helping people together. Though their sometimes caustic perosnalities must have grated on Jesus' nerves, he never sent them away.

The ability to forgive fully marks Jesus as someone who was apparently good. In the times when I was betrayed by someone in ministry or by a friend or felt bitterness toward even those I love most, I realize that Jesus would have behaved much differently. Though he was constantly questioned by the religious establishment, though his family did not support his chosen occupation, though people in general were selfish he never harbored resentment towrad anyone. As he hung on a cross, even still he asked God to forgive those who were killing him.

Jesus had a way of making those whom society looked down upon feel worthy. A woman who was caught in the act of adultery. A man who had been lame for 30 years. A man who was dying with leprosy. We would choose someone because of their superior resume or social status, putting them on our team to enhance our own appearance. Jesus befriended people of questionable character because no one else was doing it.

Given the opportunity to rule, Jesus rejected it. When he performed a miracle and changed someone's life, he asked them to keep it a secret. He did not want to draw undue attention to himself. He was not a power-hungry person. This is what makes him different from most of us. We spend our days craving attention and when we get it, it intoxicates us.

I want so badly to be like Jesus. If this is what I have achieved at the end of my life, then I would have considered myself a truly successful person. To be good as Jesus was good is my mission.

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