. . . be even as Jesus is

Introduction of Happy Like Jesus

On both sides of the world the Savior taught that to have abundant life here on earth and everlasting life in heaven, we must look to him. “Seek the Lord, and ye shall live,” the prophet Amos declared (Amos 5:6). Alma repeated the injunction: “Look to God and live” (Alma 37:47). And the Lord himself proclaimed, “Look unto me . . . and ye shall live” (3 Nephi 15:9).

To achieve eternal life, the kind of life our Father and our Savior live, we must learn to avoid evil. In fact, if we reverse evil (spell it backward), we have live.

In this book I consistently use the verb to be. In Spanish, one of the Lord’s name-titles is el Verbo (John 1:1). He is the Verb; he is an action Verb. He says I AM, and he commands us (that’s the imperative form)—YOU BE! For example, “Ye shall be holy; for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44; emphasis added).

I also use a figure of speech called paronomasia, which is a play on words. The Old Testament name of Jesus, the Son of God, the second member of the Godhead, was Hebrew hwhy (YHWH, or Yehovah/Jehovah), which is a play on the Hebrew verb meaning “to be.” Those four Hebrew letters (which in Greek are called the Tetragrammaton, meaning “Four letters”) signify I WAS, I AM, and I WILL BE—all wrapped up in one word. He is, so he wants us also to be. As the heading of 3 Nephi 27 says, “Men . . . are to be even as Jesus is.”

For example, he said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12; 3 Nephi 9:18), and he wants us also to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). He walked with a lot of darkness around him, but he generated light because of personal righteousness; now he wants us to generate light because of our personal righteousness. “I am the light; I have set an example for you” (3 Nephi 18:16).

The Prophet Joseph Smith admonished us: “If you wish to go where God is, you must be like God. . . . Search your hearts, and see if you are like God. I have searched mine, and feel to repent of all my sins. . . . Is not God good? Then you be good; if he is faithful, then you be faithful.”

Many years ago, Dr. Charles Edward Jefferson wrote a book entitled The Character of Jesus. In the first pages Jefferson explains that the New Testament is more scrutinized than any other book in print. The civilization of the first century in the Holy Land has been subjected to a scrutiny and analysis that no other civilization has ever known:

“Attention is being given to the circumstances which formed the framework of the Lord’s earthly life. Many men are working on the chronology and others are at work on the geography, and others are interested in the robe and the . . . sandals. Photographers have photographed every landscape on which he ever looked, and every scene connected with his work or career. Painters have transferred the . . . fields and lakes and skies to canvas, and . . . lecturers have made the Holy Land the most familiar spot on earth. . . . We may become so interested in the fringes and tassels of his outer life as to miss the secret which his heart has to tell. . . . It is the character of Jesus which has unique and endless significance. . . . The New Testament writers were not interested in trifles. They cared nothing for Jesus’ stature, the clothes he wore, or the houses he lived in.” Jefferson suggests that for more than a century scholars have been studying his circumstances when they ought to be studying him. His personality, His character traits, His behavior, and His teachings

Be happy—like Jesus.

Be Holy, Be Spiritually Minded, Be Humble, Be Knowledgeable, Be Serviceable, Be Prayerful,

Be Peaceful, Be Fruitful, Be Obedient, Be Loving, Be Forgiving, Be Long-Suffering, Be Persevering, Be United, Be Dedicated, Be Disciplined, Be Christlike,

“If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (John 13:17).