Golden Rule

"Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.“ Matthew 7:12.  We’re all so familiar with the Golden Rule, but when Jesus uttered these words, it was a landmark teaching.  Up until that point, the Gold in the rule was more Tin.  Sure, the general idea was there, but Jesus made a subtle, yet radical change in the wording.  What did he do?  He substituted “Do to others” for “don’t do to others”.  Can you see the difference?

When we “Do” something, to or for another person, especially an act that we would love to see reciprocated, it is positive and pro-active.  It’s like giving someone a gift that you would desire for yourself.  Now check out how different using “don’t” makes this rule.  “Don’t do to others anything that you don’t want done to you.”  Instead of acting positively, you are merely holding back a negative action.  For example, “I won’t punch them in the nose, because I don’t want them to punch me in mine.” One little word change, and what a difference.

 Just the other day I was talking to a gentleman, who referred to this noble teaching as it applied to his own life.  Recently, he had attempted to make a friendly phone call to an acquaintance, but had to leave a message on their voice mail instead. A positive, pro-active gesture, indeed.  A day or two went by, without a response, it annoyed him. He then launched into a tirade which expressed his displeasure with the other person.  “I tried to be nice,” he ranted, “but they were rude, and if they can be rude to me, I guess I’ll just be rude back to them.”  Hmm.  Jesus never told us that our good deeds would be met with good deeds in return, all he said was “Do!”  If our only motivation for doing good is to have it returned, shame on us.  “So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up.” Galatians 6:9.