What does Jesus say about His Character

Day 24

Topic: What does Jesus say about His Character?

Text:  Heb. 1:3; Galatians 5:18-26; John 14:8-10. (NLT).

 

Introduction

We often pray or sing, “I want to be Like Jesus.” But however noble this desire maybe, what exactly do we mean? What does Jesus say about His Character? What is the character of Jesus that we must emulate and must be conformed to as it says in Romans 8:29

 

LIFE LESSONS AND APPLICATIONS

 

1. LOVE – Jesus’ love for the Father was evident in His complete obedience to Him. As children of God this character of Christ should teach us to be obedient, and if we truly love Him, then we will obey Him and seek to do only His will – John 5:30; John 6:38; John 14:31; John 17:4; John 19:30. Jesus also showed his love for mankind, by willingly leaving His throne, emptied Himself of His Godhead to become man that He may pay the penalty for our sins and save us from the punishment of the wrath of God – Phil. 2:5-8; John 15:13. 

The life application here, is that Christ unconditional love for us and His sacrifice should compel us to love Him by submitting to Him and obeying Him. The Holy Spirit, our helper can provide the strength and ability to love others like Jesus loved us unconditionally, which means, putting others’ needs above our own and doing what’s best for them regardless of how we feel.

 

• MEEKNESS AND HUMILITY -The concept of meekness must not be confused with wimpyness or fear, lack of strength and moral strength. Meekness is the attitude of the mind that is opposed to harshness and contentiousness. It manifests itself in gentleness, tenderness, and patience towards others. Jesus was meek but He spoke boldly. The lesson here is to be gentle, patience, and considerate of one another. Jesus was also humble. Humility is often misunderstood and a quality that is often viewed as weakness. Rather, being humble is being free from pride, being modest, respectful, and unpretentious – Matthew 5:5. The lesson here for us is to put all traces of pride aside, but rather be respectful, kind, and modest at all times and to everyone. Jesus never sought His own glory, but the Father’s. He even showed us example of humility and services by washing His disciples’ feet, He kept silent under outrageous charges, and humbled Himself even to the point of death on the cross – 1 Peter 2:23; Isaiah 53:7; Phil. 2:8. 

The life applications here is we should be gentle when we correct, rebuke, reproof, and show respect to all irrespective of age, gender, or race – Matt. 12:18-20; John 20:24-29; Luke 23:34; 1 Peter 3:15-16. 

 

• PRAYERFUL – Jesus was a man of prayer. While He was on this earth, He was subjected to the same temptations, joys, sorrows, and frustrations,  that affected us all today. Through it all, Jesus did not simply offer up prayers and petitions, He prayed passionately. Prayer was an important part of Jesus’ life because it was His way of communicating with His Father. Jesus loved and enjoyed talking to His Father continually and regularly. The life lesson here is simple. Pray regularly, continually, and passionately. If we have a relationship with Jesus, we will want to talk to Him regularly, passionately, and continually – 1 Thess. 5:16-18.

The life application is to follow Jesus’ pattern of prayer. He would deliberately set aside time to just talk with His Father, and pray all night. Develop quite time with the Lord daily, pray for the will of God, pray the Word of God, pray with your family, pray before doing anything, start and end the day with prayers, pray for your Jerusalem, Judea, Samaritan, and the outer parts of the earth, pray for others, pray for your neighbor, pray for those in authority, and as you pray, believe He has done it in Jesus name Amen! Note that Jesus is still at this very moment praying for us in heaven at His Father’s right hand. –Eph. 6:18; Phil. 4:6-7; 1 Tim. 2:1-6.

 

LESSON OF THE DAY

There are so many other character trait of Jesus not mentioned in this outline. To emulate Him, means knowing Him first, reading His Word daily and regularly. He gave us the Holy Spirit, our teacher, reminder, comforter, advocate, standby, and helper. The Holy Spirit is the one that produces His fruit (character) in us – Gal. 5:22 as we submit to Him and walk-in-step with Him daily. Finally, the world doesn’t need more role models, it needs more of Jesus – the ultimate role model. People will not find a better person to emulate positive character traits from than Jesus Christ Himself. Shalom!