What Would Jesus Do?

What would Jesus do?   If he was married and his wife ran off with one of his other desciple buddies?  Would he be mad?  Pissed off?  Bitter?

Would he hunt that apostle down, shoot him, cut off his balls?  Or would he calmly say a prayer to wish them both safe and well…forgiving his wife and the man who took her away from him, for both of their wrongdoings?

Ugh! Ugh!  Ugh!  Seriously?  This is what we are supposed to do?  It’s insane.  But when they say, “What would Jesus do…”  This is it baby!

What would Jesus do??

I’m going to guess he would do the later.  He’d probaby act humanish at first having all the feelings of anger and revenge that I first described. Because, after all, Jesus may have been Gods son but as far as all of us agree, he was, first down here on Earth, a human.  But then…he’d talk to his dad (he had direct access, I’m sure! And shortcuts) and the dialogue would be swift and Jesus would understand and then act in his usual Jesus way and let it go.  Pray for them, forgive them and then move on to other more important matters like saving someone’s soul.

That’s when I’m really glad I’m NOT Jesus.  Cause I have an excuse, I can sit in the sad muck and hope as a cheating spouse is merrily walking down the street, a piano falls on his fat cheaters head.

Of course.  I’m terrible.  But I’m human.  And well…I’m not not Jesus.

And yet…and this is a big yet….when time passes on, I too understand.  It’s forgiveness.  It seems crazy impossible. But it’s right.  Jesus could forgive like a….God.  And if we want to be like Jesus, we need to forgive that way too.

The Promise

When you get betrayed by the one person you’ve shared a life with, that promised to love you till one of you dies, the first thing you think about is not wishing him/her well. The first of many thoughts steamrolling into your brain at the same time are: How did this happen?  What did I do wrong?  How can I get them back?  How can I destroy this “thing” that is stealing my partner?  This stranger invader who thinks they know my partner more than me and is planning a life with my partner- a spot that was mine??  How can I destroy her – them??? Where do I even start?????

I doubt Jesus would do that.  Perhaps it wouldn’t even cross his mind.  It crossed mine.

See how far off I was from this Jesus role model thing?

Owning a Gun:

I always joked that i could never have a gun in my home because if anything happened that jolted me to intense hurt, I just may pull out that gun and kill someone.

Then one night, when my husband took a call from his ‘girlfriend’ in our home, with my oldest child nearby.  My husband was instantly had to speak with her, walking away into a closed room to talk to her privately…I went red.  FIREY Red.  The uncontrollable feeling of being so devistatingly crushed and so disrespected, I wanted to it to stop, I wanted to hurt him.  I have NEVER felt that way before.  Ever.  In my whole life.

It was about 1-3 seconds where it was all in slow motion and I can relive it right now or any time I want.  It’s that engrained in my brain.  I turned to the hall closet for anything to explode through that door and stop him.  My body even reached for the upper shelf where my oldest son once had a plastic orange gun we bought in Utah.  Imagine if there was a real gun in that closet.  I’m sure if there was, my husband would be dead and I’d be in jail.

What??

Holy Crap!

What???

Avoiding Jail:

As a writer, I was so engrossed by my feelings and thoughts.  I actually stopped. What just happened?  Standing outside the door of the room where my husband chatted away with his “new friend”, time stopped for me.  I was completely absorbed in dissecting that insanely strong quick uncontrollable urge to violently hurt another.  Wow.  I actually understood from that single tiny moment in time, why sane, normal, kind, sweet, good people can go into red and kill.  Kill someone they even loved.  I understood.  It was amazing and horrifying all at the same time.  From one moment.  It can all change.  Because of a gun.

Back to Jesus:

Okay – now that I’ve lectured you about guns and the worry of having one in your home – lets get back to Jesus…and what would he do?

Even if you aren’t a Catholic, don’t like religion or don’t give a crap, we can all agree that this Jesus guy was a nice, kind, wonderful human that traveled the earth intentionally trying to make life better for many, many people.  To love each other, care for each other and just be the best person you can be to one another.

Simple.

But we all screw it up.

I am Catholic.  And those words, “What would Jesus do…?”  have irked and tormented me.  Like the other day when someone gave me an extra tip by mistake.  I wanted to keep it.  I struggled for a good minute…but then I listened to those above words, argued with my inner voice, and went back and told the man about his mistake.  He was grateful but changed the tab and I lost money.  Money that would have been mine…by a mistake….his mistake.

His Life and Voice

Since Jesus never got married (well as far as we know) using that “What would Jesus do” in my marriage has been a molding experience.  I’ve had to make up what would he do with the guy I’m married to…when he is mean, when he ignores me, when he goes out drinking till 2am on a Tuesday..and can’t drive the kids to school because he’s still drunk.

Would Jesus tell him, “What are you doing??  Get your head out of your ass!  You have a wife and kids and a life at home. Be a role model!”  Or would he say, “You are going through a hard time right now and making choices that have sever consequences.  I want you to know I’m here for you…”

I didn’t even know or realize the second response would have gone a lot better than how I behaved.  When I felt my husband pulling away in 2012, I mirrored him.  I just pulled away too.  Ignoring.  Bad idea.  He needed someone for support and while he’d be in a ball sick or sleeping till 11 on a weekday, I didn’t comfort him and say, “What can I do…”  I was reactive, “What are you doing?!”

Big mistake.  That is when he found someone else for support.  Some girl who went with a married man because he needed her.  I can’t blame her.  I have to blame them both.

But for all those girls out there that cheat with a married man, shame on you.  If you mess with a married man or woman, you are putting so many lives on a path for hurt and destruction.

Sooooo….What would Jesus do?

He wouldn’t cheat.  He’d pass.  He’d stay faithful and be the man we all hope the men in our lives choose to be.  MEN. Faithful, strong leaders.  For us and for our children.

If you have any questions about retaliation or get angry and want to revenge, someone else has it covered.  Just go look at the below quotes….

“Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Romans 12:17

Do Not Repay Anyone evil for evil.  Carefully consider what is right.

or my other favorite:

Vengence is mine, I will repay