Remember the Golden Rule

In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12 NASB)

Matthew 7:12, known as The Golden Rule, rolls off the tongue like water off a duck’s back and has long been known as the “standard” for how to treat others the way God intended for lasting, healthy relationships. So why is it so hard to do? When someone is kind to you, it’s easy to be kind back. But let’s be real – when someone is unkind to you, is your first inclination to be kind back to them? Hence the tension of The Golden Rule! But God says do it anyway!

God designed us to need Him so that we might seek Him, and that means daily and in all relationships. I don’t know about you, but I need Him desperately when someone wrongs me and I am left to respond the way I want to be treated. It’s not natural for me to not want to defend or say something I might regret later. I need God to love them through me when I might not feel like loving them myself. God knows our struggle. Let Him work… let Him love others through you! Don’t allow the Golden Rule to just become a verse to memorize, but let it be transformative in your life as God is allowed to live it out in you.

Tangible Takeaway:

You would think this would be the easiest Tangible Takeaway yet, but if The Golden Rule were easy to follow, we would all already be treating each other as we want to be treated. It’s just not that easy because we’re humans, and humans are very hard on humans! So here are some helpful tips:

  1. Ask God to help you see ALL humans through His lens. (He loves them ALL)/
  2. Put your feet in their shoes (and meet them where THEY are, not where you might want or wish them to be).
  3. Give grace! Absolutely none of us deserve it, but ALL of us are freely given it because of Jesus, so pass it on!
  4. Be you. Pray. Jesus is your model. If some reject you, well, you’re in good company. They rejected Him too – all the way to the cross where He demonstrated His unfathomable love for mankind.

This is an excerpt from We’re Still in This by Susan Goss. If you are enjoying this series, consider purchasing a copy of this new book to bless someone that could use practical words of encouragement. Shop all DaySpring Books and Devotionals.