David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles, from his book Act in Doctrine taught:
. . . The Savior used His supernal powers to restore the guard’s ear—a demonstration of His divinity He never would employ for Himself (Matthew 4:1-9). Thus the character of Christ is to turn outward in compassion and service when facing spiritual adversity or physical pain even as the natural man in each of us would turn inward in self-obsession and self-interest.
. . . I believe it is the consistency of the Lord’s character across multiple episodes that is ultimately the most instructive and inspiring. . . recall how as the Lord was taken to Calvary and the awful agony of the Crucifixion was commenced, He pleaded with the Father to “Forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
Consider how Jesus, while hanging on the cross, instructed the Apostle John about caring for His mother, Mary (see John 19:26-27). Remember also that in the midst of excruciating spiritual and physical pain, the Savior reassured one of the thieves on the cross, “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43)
Throughout His mortal ministry, and especially during the events leading up to and including the atoning sacrifice, the Savior of the world turned outward—when the natural man or woman in most of us would have focused inward.Developing a Christlike Character
We can in mortality seek to be blessed with and develop essential elements of a Christlike character. Indeed, it is possible for us as mortals to strive in righteousness to receive the spiritual gifts associated with the capacity to reach outward and appropriately respond to other people who are experiencing the very challenge of adversity that is most immediately and forcefully pressing upon us. We cannot obtain such a capacity through sheer will power or personal determination. Rather we need, and are dependent upon “the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah” (2 Nephi 2:8). But “line upon line, and precept upon precept” (2 Nephi 28; 30) and in the process of time (see Moses 7:21), we can increasingly reach outward when the natural tendency is for us to turn inward.
The letters A, C, and T comprise a central element of the word charACTer. As we have already seen in examples of Christ’s strongly developed, strikingly displayed, and consistently lived character in the New Testament, the nature and constancy of how one acts reveals in a powerful way his or her true character.~David A. Bednar, Act in Doctrine (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012), 13-14
Personal note from Kent. . . . there have been many times in my life where circumstances or now a post shouts at me “HYPOCRITE!”. I have a long way to go. Often in such failures, it is better for me not to say/do anything than to risk (yet again) making things worse.
