For when we don’t know what Jesus would do

“What would Jesus do?” is a GREAT question to ask – except for when you don’t know what Jesus would do.

Yesterday, my daughter did something, and I asked her to stop and explained why she shouldn’t do that.

And then a minute later, she tried it again.

I asked her to stop, and she said, “no!”

She usually has pretty good behavior for a two-year-old, so I was a little surprised.

I picked her up and removed her from the potentially dangerous situation, and while I placed her down, I said a little prayer in my heart:

“What would the Savior do in this situation?”

The quick answer that came to my mind?

“You’ll learn. Just try your best right now.”

I tried something. I think it worked okay. And then I hugged her and told her I loved her.

It wasn’t perfect.

I literally don’t know exactly how the Savior would respond in that situation.

I have ideas and options in my head, but I honestly just don’t know sometimes.

I’ve run into this exact situation a few times lately-

How can I be Christlike when I’m not even sure what being Christlike looks like in this situation?

How can we be men and women just as he was, when we don’t always know what that should look like?

First, I know I’ve learned that I need to be worthy to have the Spirit with me at all times.

Because I know the Spirit can teach me.

But secondly, the lesson I was taught again yesterday was that the Spirit is NOT going to show me exactly what to do every single time I ask.

Because… that’s the whole point.

I need to learn what is the most Christlike response.

And I’ve noticed that Christ didn’t always respond in the same way to everyone.

He tailored his responses and his actions to exactly what the person with whom he was interacting needed.

So the most Christlike response to my daughter’s defiance might look differently than the most Christlike response to someone else’s defiance.

But at the root of being Christlike is knowledge and love.

The more that I love someone, and the more that I learn about them, the better I am able to know what “Christlike” looks for them.

And that’s a long process.

So when I’m asked to be a woman with the same manner that our Savior had, I know that it will take love, knowledge, and a lifetime of learning to discover what exactly that looks like.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black