As Jesus Would

Devotional

As Jesus Would

Some of the most important lessons we learn are never formally taught. There is no classroom. No carefully prepared outline. No moment when someone announces, “Here is what I want you to learn.” Instead, we watch a life. We notice how someone treats people. We see what they do when circumstances are difficult. We discover whether their words can be trusted because we have watched those words become actions. And sometimes, without realizing it, we begin learning something about God through the life of someone who has chosen to walk faithfully with Him.

The song, As Jesus Would, is about that kind of influence. The person in the song does not stand above another person and point toward the way. He walks beside her. He does not force spiritual growth. He does not attempt to manufacture faith. He encourages, supports, loves, and leaves room for God to do the work that only God can do. That distinction matters.

Christians are called to teach truth, but we are also called to live it. Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:35) First John makes that love practical: “let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18) James likewise reminds us that faith must become visible in what we do. (James 2:14–18)

Sometimes that demonstration becomes particularly important when another person is struggling. Faith can be tested severely by grief, disappointment, fear, illness, betrayal, or years of accumulated hardship. Someone who once stood confidently may find themselves uncertain of their footing. At such a time, it can be tempting to believe that the struggling person simply needs more instruction. Sometimes what they need first is someone willing to walk beside them—not someone who replaces God, becomes their spiritual authority, or claims to have all the answers, but simply someone whose own life quietly says, “God can still be trusted.”

That is one of the beautiful ideas within the song: “You believed in me before I saw the light.” There are moments when another person can see evidence of God’s work in us before we recognize it ourselves. They may notice a gift we have dismissed, a strength we thought was gone, or the first small movement of faith beginning again. Encouragement can then become an act of love.

Barnabas provides a wonderful biblical example. When others were understandably afraid of Saul, Barnabas came alongside him. Later, when John Mark had failed and Paul did not want to take him on another journey, Barnabas was willing to invest in him again. (Acts 9:26–28; Acts 15:36–39) Barnabas could not create what God intended those men to become, but he could make room for it. That is very different from trying to control another person’s spiritual journey.

The song, As Jesus Would, says, “You let me choose, you helped me to see— You trusted God with you, and trusted God with me.” There is considerable wisdom in those words. We can love someone deeply without attempting to become the Holy Spirit in their life. We can speak truth without forcing the outcome. We can encourage without controlling. We can open a door without pushing someone through it.

Ultimately, spiritual transformation belongs to God. Paul wrote, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” (1 Corinthians 3:6) And Philippians reminds us that “he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) We may participate in another person’s life, but the growth and the continuing work belong to God.

And perhaps that is why integrity has such quiet power. A person whose private life agrees with what they profess does not need to manufacture a lesson. Their faith has become visible. That does not mean they are perfect. No human example should become our standard in place of Christ. Scripture remains our authority, and Jesus remains the One we follow. But a faithful life can point toward Him.

The elderly man quietly holding his worn Bible may never know how many people have learned from watching him. The pages have shaped him over many years, and now something of what he has learned can be seen in the way he treats the people around him. Perhaps that is one of the highest forms of Christian influence: not merely telling someone how Jesus would love them, but allowing them to experience something of that love through us.

That brings the final line of the song into focus: “A person's greatest calling is loving as Jesus would.” We may never know who is watching. We may never know which kindness mattered, which encouragement arrived at precisely the right moment, or which quiet act of integrity helped someone believe again. We do not need to know. Our calling is simply to follow Christ faithfully—and when God places another person beside us, to walk with them in love.

Prayer

Father, thank You for the people You have placed in my life whose faith has quietly pointed me toward You. Teach me to live what I believe with humility, integrity, patience, and love. Help me encourage others without trying to control what only You can accomplish in their hearts. Let my words and actions agree, and may the life I live always point beyond me to Christ. Give me grace to walk beside those who are struggling and to love them as Jesus would. In Jesus’ name, Amen.