If you grew up going to church as a kid during the 90s, it’s likely you acquired at least one bracelet with WWJD printed on it. They popped up suddenly and it seemed like everyone had one. Maybe you wore one to remind you to ask yourself “What Would Jesus Do?” during any situation you might find yourself in. Or, maybe you were like me and were wearing one because everyone (and it truly seemed like everyone) was wearing these bracelets.

You can still find plenty of merchandise with WWJD printed on it today, but the trend isn’t as widespread as it was during the 90s. I was a little too young to remember all of the details of the WWJD craze. I think that some youth groups actually talked about the significance behind the slogan. However, elementary me wasn’t part of that conversation.

It’s been years since I’ve seen anyone wearing WWJD, but sometimes the phrase still pops into my head. I find myself truly wondering “What would Jesus do?” 

A few years ago, I realized that I spent more time listening to other people telling me about Jesus than reading my Bible to find out who Jesus really was. It occurred to me that I couldn’t know what Jesus would do if I didn’t know what Jesus actually did while He was on earth.

So, I decided to start reading Matthew and take notes on what I learned about Jesus as I went. I quickly found that the Jesus recorded in the Bible didn’t necessarily match everything I had in my head about Him. When I looked at what Jesus did, I found that Jesus mostly healed people and taught large crowds. 

At one point, Jesus tells John the Baptist’s disciples to “go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor” (Matthew 11:4, NIV). While Jesus did more than just those things mentioned above, His words sum up a lot of what people saw Him do.

Clearly, it would be hard for me to do the things that Jesus did. On my own, I am not capable of working miracles, and even the best preacher would never be able to teach with the same authority as Jesus.

So, that phrase “What would Jesus do?” wouldn’t necessarily lead me to the actions that I should take in a situation. For example, Jesus probably wouldn’t call for an ambulance, but there are times when that might be the right thing for me to do.

However, as I read, I found there were a few situations I could follow. In Matthew 14, Jesus goes to be alone to pray. That’s something that’s completely doable. In fact, if Jesus prioritized spending time in prayer even though He is the Son of God, then it should probably be that much more of a priority for me.

Although reading through Matthew didn’t concretely give me examples of what Jesus would do in every situation I face today, it was worth investing my time in because it helped me learn more about Jesus and His character. If I’m going to follow Jesus, I should know a lot about Him.

Unfortunately, when I finished reading Matthew at that time, I didn’t continue reading through the rest of the Gospels taking more notes about Jesus. The notebooks that I use when I’m studying the Bible show that I tend to get excited about things for a little while, but don’t always sustain that attention. It’s something I’m still working on.

So, I’ve recently started purposely reading through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. This time, I have two focuses. I’m looking at what Jesus did, but I’m also looking at what Jesus is telling those around Him to do.

Although it’s not quite as catchy and wouldn’t fit well on a bracelet, now I’m focusing on “What would Jesus want me to do?” 

Sometimes, it’s difficult to parse ideas in the Bible. Nowhere in there does Jesus tell you directly what to do in every possible situation: what job to take, who to marry, or even something as simple as what to do when your co-worker constantly leaves the copier jammed despite the clear instructions posted about how to fix it.

However, there are passages where Jesus directly states how He wants people to live. In Luke 6:27-28, Jesus says, “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you…” (NIV).

In passages like this one, it is impossible to ignore the expectations Jesus has for how we are to think and act. We absolutely can and should use this guidance in our daily lives.

I’m still in the middle of learning to ask “What would Jesus want me to do?” and I imagine this is an area where I’ll be learning for the rest of my life. 

The idea behind wearing WWJD bracelets was a good one. I personally still forget to let my faith guide my actions too frequently. But, I found even greater value in learning more about Jesus and what He directly tells Christians to do that wondering hypothetically what Jesus would do.

If you haven’t read the Gospels before with the intent of focusing on Jesus and His teachings, then I encourage you to try it. Pick just one gospel to begin with. I found Luke and John to have the most intense beginnings (or perhaps, I had just started reading Matthew with good intentions that quickly petered out too many times in the past), so I’d suggest starting with one of those two first.

So, what does Jesus want you to do?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Elizabeth is an educator at heart. So far this has taken the form of a camp counselor, a museum assistant, and currently a middle school teacher. She loves to watch people grow and learn. You can read more of her writing at her blog Chronicles of a Southern Belle.