I think most people imagine Jesus as the most loving and kind person one could ever wish to meet. They think that if they could have a sit-down conversation, He would be super nice, loving, affirming, and tender in his manner and communications. And maybe there is some truth to that; but I think most miss the fact that Jesus doesn’t always love people the way they want to be loved; rather, He loves them how He would want to be loved if He were in their place.
Most people will readily admit that they are not as righteous as they should be. We are all more or less aware of many of our own faults, even if we spend most of our lives pretending they are less damaging than they really are. And so, we find that even if we can fool ourselves, we cannot fool God.
And so, I think it is realistic to suppose that if Jesus were to sit down and have a conversation with any of us, He would very likely feel compelled to say things that we find very hard to hear. I don’t think He would be mean or cruel about it, but He would be open, honest, and frank. He would communicate how certain things we believe and do are counterproductive and hurtful. He would suggest teachings and modes of being that would improve our lives and lead to much greater happiness. But be that as it may, it is safe to say that many of the things He would have to say might feel very hard to hear; they might feel condemning, and they might even feel callous and cruel. But that is merely perception, not reality. Because everything Jesus does is for the best good of those He loves.
Perhaps Jesus’ greatest challenge is that we often do not allow Him to love us. When He sends people into our lives who offer insights, correction, and teachings that would greatly improve our lives, we very often reject them because what they say seems so at odds with what we have chosen to believe about ourselves and the world around us. It is human nature to seek equilibrium with what we are in relation to reality as we see it. It is human nature to seek justification and affirmation within our minds and hearts in whatever ways are available to us. Unfortunately, many of those ways are established with rationalisms that are far from honest.
It is only natural that we desire improvement in our circumstances. But justice requires that we seek improvement based on moral truth rather than deception.
If we are honest, if we really care about truth, and if we truly love God, we will humbly approach His teachings and promises with meekness and submissiveness rather than defensiveness and pride. And we will expect to be challenged with the intensity and severity of His word.
As our understanding of His love and ways increases, we will be less and less averse to his correction and teachings. In fact, we will appreciate every challenge He gives us more and more. This is faith, not because it is mysterious, but because His ways are appreciated, trusted, and followed without hesitation.
Faith is based on evidence and understanding, not wishful thinking.
Jesus is revealing the evidence of His love and goodness all of the time. He is constantly reaching out to each of us in every way available to Him, according to the laws of righteousness. How He can do this is very restricted, but the greatest restrictions placed upon Him are our own making, not His.
“Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days. And the rebellious shall be cut off out of the land of Zion, and shall be sent away, and shall not inherit the land.” (Doctrine and Covenants 64:34 – 35)
So often, we are limited by how we want to love God and live our lives, rather than partaking of God’s abundance by submitting to how He wants us to love Him and live our lives.
We tend to indulge ourselves with fanciful notions about what it means to love and serve God. Often we think this involves more church-based activity, but more often than not, it actually involves more character improvement and simple submission to the small things He whispers to us to do each day. And it requires a willingness to endure correction, often in ways that seem harsh and from individuals who seem insignificant.
When God comes to us, He very rarely appears clothed in glory. Rather, most often, He appears as a nobody, a dingy, rough, and despised outsider who few would notice as a personality of any divine significance, and who most invariably reject and despise without a second thought.
This is how He operated anciently, and it is how he still operates today.
1 YEA, even doth not Isaiah say: Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb so he opened not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgressions of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no evil, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
(Book of Mormon | Mosiah 14:1 – 10)
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