I’m Trying to be like Jesus

I’m sitting in Starbucks with my iPad in my lap determined to not get sidetracked from the task at hand, which is to design a new topical page for The Alarida Journey.  I’ve taken the month of January off from composing stories on the site to focus on a total redesign… the first major renovation since I started the site in 2009.  My approach is to give the site a more personal feel rather than the “corporate feel” it has embodied for the past 4 years.

The page that I have struggled to compose on the site in the way that I really want it represented is the “Meet Me” page.  I have such a hard time writing about myself and making it sound as eloquent as I’d like.  I try so hard to write a perfect description of myself, and it never comes out just right.  I always feel like I have to work myself up, and/or list all of my accomplishments and awards thus far.  It never feels right when I look at it.

So, I’ve just planned on writing that page last.  That was until I was listening to some music on YouTube, and randomly ran across a song that I have never heard before.  When I began to listen to the lyrics, the site design came to a screeching halt.  The words of this song were so simple, yet stronger than steel.

“I’m trying to be like Jesus;
I’m following in his ways.
I’m trying to love as he did, in all that I do and say.
At times I am tempted to make a wrong choice,
But I try to listen as the still small voice whispers,

“Love one another as Jesus loves you.
Try to show kindness in all that you do.
Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,
For these are the things Jesus taught.”

I had to stop.  I felt tears welling up in my eyes.  I went to the counter and ordered an apple fritter.  I really didn’t believe you can eat an apple fritter and cry at the same time.  I was wrong.  The song is so beautiful.  It’s actually a Children’s Hymn from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  This likely explains why I’ve never heard it thus far.  These lyrics are something I will instill in my future children’s minds regardless of who composed or sang them.

“I’m trying to love my neighbor;
I’m learning to serve my friends.
I watch for the day of gladness when Jesus will come again.
I try to remember the lessons he taught.
Then the Holy Spirit enters into my heart, saying:

“Love one another as Jesus loves you.
Try to show kindness in all that you do.
Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,
For these are the things Jesus taught.”

So… meet me.  These lyrics said it all.  It’s becoming unpopular for those who try to be like Jesus to call themselves Christians.  In 2013, we are “Christ Followers.”  Whatever…  My new title, while a bit more wordy is “Trying to be like Jesus.”

I’m not perfect.  I screw up.  I do, it all the time.  I give into temptation more than I want to, and I feel like total crap after I do.  Yeah, I even say the word “crap” sometimes.  I feel like crap because I know that Jesus didn’t give into temptation, and I’m trying to be like Jesus.  I repent, and I continue on my road of reaching excellence with my Savior where those same sinful temptations become a thing of the past.  Being like Jesus was never meant to be complicated.  Somewhere between our first breath and the one we just took, many of us made it complicated.  What were we thinking?

This is all I want.  I want to be like Jesus. I don’t tell people that I want to be like Jesus to impress them… In fact the Bible says people will even hate me because of it.

Mark 13:13 (New Living Translation)
And everyone will hate you because you are my followers. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

So why would I ever even mention it on my Facebook or Twitter profile?  I do it because it’s part of who I am.  It’s who I was meant to be, and the choice I made.

I don’t need wealth or fame, nor do I need to see my name in lights… I just want to see my name in the Book of Life… not just because I escape eternity in Hell, but because if my name is there, that means that I was like Jesus.  It means that I loved like Jesus loved… It means that I served the way Jesus served, and I started the race and didn’t stop regardless of how many times I tripped and scraped my knees and elbows.

We all look for someone to imitate.  It might be an athlete or an actor, or even the cool guy at work or school.  We might buy the same kinds of clothes they wear, we may try to talk the way they talk, or walk the way they walk… It’s natural.  That’s me too.  I have someone to imitate too.  I’m trying to be like Jesus.

Well, I got distracted from the site design to write this story… But I feel like I’ve officially written the “Meet Me” page.