The Golden Rule
Do you treat everyone in your life the way you would like to be treated?
Verse of the Day
“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.”
Today’s Devotional
This teaching of Jesus is pretty straight forward. It’s very easy to understand what He is teaching us. But it is not always simple to obey.
Many other world religions have a similar rule, but it is given in the “negative” form. Don’t do to others what you do not want done to you. This implies refraining from certain types of behavior that you don’t want inflicted upon you. But Jesus teaches this in the positive. Others say “don’t do”, Jesus says, “Do!” It’s active and proactive. Are we obeying?
If I want others to treat me with kindness, have I gone out of my way to be kind to anyone today?
If I want my friends to pray for me, am I asking them how I can pray for them and then doing it?
If I want people to respect my beliefs, am I respectful of others whose beliefs differ from mine?
If I want people to meet my expectations, am I sharing my expectations (or do they have to guess)? Am I asking what their expectations are and then doing my best to meet them?
If I want to be given the benefit of the doubt, am I offering that to others?
If I want to be forgiven when I mess up, am I forgiving when someone wrongs me or offends me?
If I want the people in my life to point out to me the places where I am missing the mark, am I willing to lovingly say hard things to others?
If I want people to share with me, am I actively sharing with others?
If I want the people in my life to be open-minded, am I open-minded to God and to the differing perspectives of others?
If I want people to be humble, am I humble? Am I actively seeking humility?
If I want others to admit their mistakes, am I owning my own errors and am I quick to apologize? (Or is it only when I get caught or if someone notices?)
If I want other people to obey God, am I actively obeying Him?
If I want to be encouraged, am I actively encouraging others?
If I want to be supported in my faith journey, am I supporting anyone in theirs?
If I want people to reach out to me, am I reaching out to others first?
One of the most obedient things we can do today is to ask God to show us where we are not treating others the way we want to be treated. And when He shows us, we choose to behave differently. We can also take the time to think about how we want to be treated. And then we could actively go into our day looking for opportunities to treat people in the ways that are on our list. Are we willing?
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Take the time to think about (and write down) how you want to be treated: by your spouse, by your friends, by family members, by co-workers, by strangers, by your boss.
Make a list of how you could treat the people in your life in those same ways.
Ask God to help you to see the opportunities today to treat others in the ways you want to be treated.