ARE YOU MOVED TO ACT AS JESUS WAS?

DOWN through history many individuals have manifested admirable qualities. You can understand why. Jehovah God possesses and displays love, kindness, generosity and other qualities that we esteem. Humans were created in God's image. So we can appreciate why many would show a degree of love, kindness compassion and other divine qualities, even as most reflect a conscience. (Genesis 1:26; Romans 2:14, 15) You may realize, though, that some display these qualities more readily than others.

Probably you are acquainted with men and women who often visit or aid the sick, show compassion to the handicapped, or give generously to the poor. Think, too, of individuals whose compassion moves them to expend their lives working in leper colonies or orphanages, those who do volunteer work in hospitals or hospices, or people who strive to assist the homeless or those who are refugees. Likely, some of them feel that they are imitating Jesus, who set the pattern for Christians. We read in the Gospels that Christ healed the sick and fed the hungry. (Mark 1:34; 8:1-9; Luke 4:40) Jesus' displays of love, tenderness and compassion are reflections of "the mind of Christ," who in turn was imitating the heavenly Father. - 1 Corinthians 2:16.

Have you observed, though, that today many of those touched by Jesus' love and compassion overlook a key feature of the mind of Christ? We can gain insight into this by a careful consideration of Mark chapter 6. We read there that people brought the sick to Jesus to be healed. In the context, we also learn that upon seeing the thousands who had come to him had grown hungry, Jesus fed them miraculously. (Mark 6:35-44, 54-56) Healing the sick and feeding the hungry were outstanding displays of loving compassion, but were they the primary ways in which Jesus helped others? And how can we best imitate his perfect example of love, kindness and compassion, even as he imitated Jehovah?

Next time: Moved to Respond to Spiritual Needs

Watchtower,2000