Matthew 7:12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Luke 6:31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Mark 12:31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.
Whether you were raised in church or not, you have probably been taught the golden rule since early childhood. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It’s actually biblically based coming from Matthew 7 and Luke 6, and these words were spoken to us by Jesus. It ought to be easy enough for us to do this. We can treat people like we want to be treated, right?
Oh, but human nature tends to get in the way. Someone hurts us, so we want to hurt them. It’s all about getting even, holding a grudge, or even suing someone who wronged us. And we don’t just want to get even, we want everyone to know about the mean thing that was done to us. We start gossiping and telling everyone we can what so and so did to us and how angry we are. We want sympathy for the wrong that’s been done, or we just want everyone to be as angry as we are about the situation as we are.
Whoa, wait a minute, I thought we were doing unto others as we want them to do unto us. I don’t want people hurting me, gossiping about me, or being angry with me. I don’t want to be the bad guy that everyone is talking about. Ouch! There it is. Breaking that simple rule is so easy.
It’s hard to treat others as we want to be treated, but it is the right thing to do. It’s not only right, it’s the christian/biblical thing to do. Matthew 22:37-39 tells us : “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Jesus tells us to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and then love your neighbor as yourself. He commands us to love: love God, love others. It’s easy to get mad and get even. It takes a little more effort to turn the other cheek when we get angry or hurt, but it actually feels so much better. Anger and bitterness will burn an ugly hole in our being and sooner or later that ugliness will rear its ugly head. If we are truly living for Christ, we have to truly live like Christ, and living like Christ is living with love for others…all others…even those others that hurt us, made us mad, or those that we just find really hard to like. We have to learn to forgive and forget. Forgiveness sets us free! If we learn to have a forgiving attitude, we aren’t holding on to grudges and anger, and we can get on with enjoying life the way God truly wants us to enjoy it. Living out the golden rule will lead to immeasurable blessings! Be blessed today!
Inspirations from the Funny Farm 