Philemon 1:17-19 [ESV]
So if you consider me your partner, receive him (Onesimus) as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self.
This is such a beautiful picture of Christ to us. Paul is modeling what it looks like to successfully apply the answer to “What would Jesus do?” I see Jesus using similar language to God the Father for me – Father, receive Ben into your Kingdom. Accept him as you would accept Me. Any sin Ben has committed against you, please charge that to Me. I bare the stripes, the marks of the nails, the hole in My side, and the experience of being separated in death from You.
Application:
Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians to imitate God and he modeled this for us. I must apply this to my life as a husband, father, son, friend, and co-worker. It is not enough to read God’s word; I must also apply it for it to actually work in me.
Ephesians 5:1 [AMP]
THEREFORE BE imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father].
James 1:22-23 [AMP]
But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].
For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror;