This week we are talking about how we can be Jesus in our lives today. This is what every one of us is called to do – be Jesus to the people God places in our life.  Here are 4 ways I am thinking about it these days. How might they apply to your life, starting right now?

Shownotes

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“The people that God places in your life are living, breathing, manifestations of God’s will for you, he speaks to us through the people that he puts in our lives.”

Shownotes

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1. Forgive someone who doesn’t deserve it.

This is a very hard thing to do, and yet Jesus gives us the great example of offering mercy to those who do not deserve it. If you are holding on to unforgiveness in a big or small way, I encourage you to spend some time reflecting on Jesus as he forgave those who crucified him and offered them mercy — even as they were torturing and killing him! In what ways does he call you to follow that example by offering forgiveness and mercy to someone in your life today?

2. Notice someone.

Throughout the Bible, we read stories where God and then Jesus notice people and offer them what they need — even when they are not necessarily looking for him. Jesus offers whaling to everyone in his path, he resurrected the dead son of  the widow of Nain, even though she probably did not even know who he was. Who in your life is God calling on you to notice and serve? Who can you love by seeing them and their needs today?

3. Go away to pray.

Jesus made time for solitude and prayer. We need to do the same. Throughout his ministry, we see Jesus teaching great crowds of people and then going away by himself to pray, especially during times of great importance. Do you make time in yoru day to pray? Jesus tells us to go to our rooms and close the door and pray to God the Father. Do you make time to do that? Every day? Consider where God might be calling you to follow Jesus’ example of prayer in a more intentional way. 

4. Drink the cup you are given.

Jesus was not only God – he was fully human as well. As such, he did not want to suffer and die on the cross. We see this when, in the Garden of Gethsemane, he prays the words “Take this cup from me.” We all have times in our lives when we do not want to drink from the cup we are given, and yet God calls us to do hard things anyway. Like Jesus, we can pray “Not my will, but your will be done.” Very hard to do, but Jesus sets the perfect example for us. In what ways is God calling you to drink from the cup you have been given? In what ways are you tempted to reject it or look around at what others have been called to instead? 

At the end of our reflection, I share a beautiful prayer from a book I have been using for my daily prayer time recently: The Better Part, Gospel of Luke by Fr. John Bartunek, LC.

In the last part of this week’s show, I read the introduction to a new book I have written with Dan, the Manual for Marriage, a beautiful resource for every couple. In it, Dan and I share reflective essays on marriage and family life, but it also features a large collection of prayers, Scripture passages, hymns, and stories from the saints that will encourage and support you in your married relationship.