Grace- an exercise

I've been reading the gospels to find out exactly "who" Jesus was- what kind of person He was, what He did, what His personality was like, how He treated others.... Today I found a verse that might just sum it all up. I went looking for what exactly this one particular word, "grace," means...

John 1:14- "...the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

The definition of grace that stood out to me the most was this one:

Grace- the exercise of love, kindness, & mercy; a disposition to benefit or serve another

WOW! I think that could be a one phrase/sentence statement that truly sums up Jesus- if you can sum up God in one sentence, that is. :) Jesus showed love, kindness and mercy everywhere He went in his travels, in His work, in what He said & did. He lived a live of service to others, and when it came down to it, He thought of others and put Himself and His own physical needs and wants last, even to the point of laying down His own life for us.

And, in my own life- am I exercising love, kindness, mercy, serving others? I'd like to think so, but I also know some areas where I am not- so really, in the end, I'm not, am I? I don't like exercising- period. It's hard work, it's painful sometimes, it makes you grow and often be uncomfortable in the process, it isn't always pleasant, sometimes it yields pleasant results, and sometimes it doesn't. It's easy to be all love & kindness to those who love me back and who never mistreat me. But when someone has hurt me bad enough, I don't want to deal with them, I just want to be left alone. But is that what Jesus did?

I've got some more thinking to do here, a lot of it, actually. Jesus wasn't a doormat either. Though He was love, kindness and mercy, there were also times when He left an area where He wasn't received, where He got mad, where He dusted the dirt of His feet and moved on... But even in those times, I believe He was saddened at the people's rejection of Him and His love and mercy... In His heart, He wanted people to accept His gift.

I've really got to exercise more spiritually. I think that is the lesson Jesus has been trying to teach me the past year or two. And this journey to be more like Him- well, I've got a long, long way to go.