Polishing up the Golden Rule

When my Bible was new, it had gold on the edge of its pages. The gold has long since worn off, but as the psalmist wrote, God's commands printed on the pages are still worth "more than gold, more than pure gold" (Psalm 119:127).

Every word from the mouth of God is a nugget of spiritual gold. Yet, we have grown so accustomed to the Bible—so used to the idea that God's Son, the Living Word, came to earth—that we take for granted the treasure chest we find in Scripture. All of God's rules are "golden rules."

But if you're looking for a foundational principle to guide your relationships with others, it's hard to find anything more lustrous than Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount: "In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12).

Centuries before Christ, Socrates said something similar, except he stated it in the negative: "Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you." Jesus stated it in positive terms. In everything. Don't look for exceptions. This is a comprehensive guideline for life, governing every interaction with others. Do. Good intentions aren't enough. Love must be expressed through action. To others. The essence of love is unselfishness. What you would have them do to you. Do you want others to tell you the truth, treat you with respect, and keep their promises? Do the same for them. For this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Hundreds of God's laws govern our behavior toward others, but with brilliant insight, Jesus captured the essence of them all in this one weighty principle.

Does the Golden Rule need some polish in your life? If we really practiced the Golden Rule, it would revolutionize our relationships with others at home, school, and work. We would be less self-centered, less demanding, more considerate. We would be more patient, more ready to help.

And how might our churches be different if we practiced the Golden Rule? Would we quarrel so bitterly over matters of opinion? Would we be so quick to question others' motives? Wouldn't we become more service-minded, more gracious and forgiving, more willing to see our brother's point of view? Wouldn't we be more helpful to guests who visit our worship services if we put ourselves in their shoes? Wouldn't leaders and followers get along better if all of us consider how we would want to be treated if our roles were reversed?

The apostle Paul said it well in Philippians 2:4: "Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." In a self-centered world, to live like that would be a rare treasure indeed.