Jesus never praised himself, yet praise worthy He was and is. Why call me good, he voiced to his disciples, there is only one good, and that is God. [Luke 18:19] He knew how to commend a people deserving and undeserving.
- He commended the woman who poured an alabaster jar of ointment over his feet.
- He commended the centurion for His Father in the authority of the God spoken Word.
- He commended the woman of Canaan's faith for her daughter's well being.
- He also commended Simon ... calling him Petra ... piece of the rock even though in the next breath he would have to correct Peter for yielding to a wrong Spirit.
Jesus knew how to get the best out of people, and he did it through goodness. Jesus raised up disciples ... disciplined ones. What made them desire to do what was right? It was love that compelled them, that motivated them. The love that Christ lived in, the love that Christ poured out over others.
It has been said, that there is only one way to get anyone to do anything, and that is to cause them to want to. Thus, the love and life that Jesus dripped with was enough to cause fishers, tax collectors, men, women and children to follow him. They saw something in Christ that they wanted bad enough that they were willing to let go of the past and the present to follow him into their future. His encouraging words drew them.
The disciples had a want to. They wanted what they saw in Jesus more than they wanted to be the captain of the fishing boat, or head of the IRS. The woman with the alabaster jar wanted it more than a years worth of wages stored up in the bank.
People do what they want to. What is Jesus' complimentary words over you, inspiring you to want to do?
