WWJD (What Would Jesus Do)?

Paola Valdescona

We live in a world where there is food to eat, water to drink and money to spend. Nonetheless, this world is imperfect just like all of us. Though we’re simply a part of it, we are social beings that need attention and companionship in order to survive. We are as what a scientist called us “human beings”. We eat and drink to live. We are by nature, made to interrelate with beings similar to our kind. We are bound to commit mistakes as none of us living in this world we know as “earth” is ever perfect. However, 2000+ years ago, the Son of Man came to existence and he otherwise proved himself worthy to be called the right hand of the father. Whatever our religion may be, we are all familiar with what he did and who he is. For the purposes of being understood better but with all due respect to the readers’ religions and, I will name him Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ was born and raised as a human being though he is by nature, a God. He is perfect – he knows what shall be done in times of uncertainty. When he was tempted by Satan - his very strong opponent, he defended very well his principles and God’s will. As a proof, he had never ever committed a single mistake in his entire subsistence, indeed he was perfect. Often times, just like him, we face situations where we have to choose between what we WANT to do and what MUST be done. The WANT part constitutes the “incorrect” and probably “immoral” choice and the MUST part defines the “good” and “right” thing to do. How about trying to ask ourselves this question - WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) before making our decisions during perplexing circumstances? Maybe then, we’ll be guided by his light and we’ll be able to make right and wise judgments.

Through out this column, you, my dear readers will come across some familiar situations which best depicts a person who is facing the dilemma of choosing between the WRONG-BUT-CONVENIENT choice and RIGHT-BUT-COMPLICATED one.

I am now a 4^th year college student and I can’t deny the fact that ever since I studied, I have been continuously tempted to cheat (copy answers during exams, prepare then use codigos, copy homeworks, etc.) and you must agree with me that once in your academic life, you faced this very same predicament. One time, I failed to review for an exam because I was so busy doing some other stuff that is considerably much less important, a good example would be that I am constantly updating my facebook account. On the day of the exam itself, I don’t know the answers to the questions. I may be able to answer some items but it wouldn’t be enough for me to pass. At that exact moment, I was torned between the thought of passing but cheating and the thought of not cheating but failing. Indeed, they were very complex options and so, if I am a senior student, graduating that very semester and this exam is my make or break point, what shall I do? Do my best to sneak on my teacher and check on and copy my seatmate’s answer to pass or do I just answer to the best of my ability and wholeheartedly accept it if I fail? Just like how I started this column, I am simply a human being and I believe that 80% of my mind will tell me that I must pass. Of course, I would not want to miss graduation and who cares; I would not be caught cheating anyway. But let me ask you this, will this be the very same action Jesus would’ve done if he came to face this same problem?

>>> The answer my dear is No. I am guessing he will be frustrated that he won’t be able to graduate alongside his friends but he wouldn’t compromise his principles for such as a small thing. He knows cheating is wrong and he, by his nature, will always choose the right thing even though he sacrifices himself or just part of him – this was the very principle he showed us when he unconditionally accepted his faith as the humankind’s savior. God gave his only begotten son to redeem us; to free us from sin, because he knows that it was the right thing to do. And Jesus Christ sacrificed himself because he agrees with God the Father – it was indeed the best and right thing to do. Where could the humans be now if not for him? This I still ponder on.

There are innumerable likely instances where the WWJD question would have fit but I want to leave it all up to your imaginations. Still, here I am, telling you guys about taking chances on figuring out what would Jesus have possibly done in times of despair but I personally haven’t even tried it once. In my 19, turning 20 years of existence, I have already committed an awful lot of mistakes that I do not even sometimes regret doing. At least I am honest enough to admit that I was like this. But, when I come to think of it, maybe asking myself the WWJD question would’ve possibly worked, and no! Rather, it would have always worked.

However, this is not only about me or my regrets in life. It is about all of us and how we view things. It is about how we settle on our chosen alternative. Admit it, we are not and will never be perfect, but, we can always try to make ourselves less imperfect. Now, if Jesus was one of the readers of this column, What Would He Do? The options are not for me to give but for you to come up with yourselves. Ultimately, I would like to throw this challenge – Can we live the life God and Jesus lay before us?