"The Golden Rule"

We all know the 'Golden Rule.' "Treat others the same way you want them to treat you." (Luke 6:31) (Actually I memorized it from the King James Version, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.") I learned that from childhood and still hear many people today use it as a pattern to live by. But wait, I need you to listen carefully and think about this. Sometimes we follow something so long, we never give thought to why other than someone taught us that. Jesus spoke this "Golden Rule" to those who were under the old covenant, the law of Moses, prior to His death. The law of Moses was based on "loving your neighbors as you love yourself." (Lev. 19:18) It was also based on "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." (Ex. 21:24)

As Jesus was facing the cross, He was privately meeting with His disciples. His teaching came forth: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." (John 13:34) There was a change in direction and depth. Jesus brought in "a new commandment." No longer were things based on "self" but on the basis of His loving death. We are not called to treat others as we would want them to treat us. We are to treat others as God has already treated us in Christ Jesus! "Self" is taken out of the way. Christ has taken our place.

Christ did not intend the "Golden Rule" to be the ultimate expression of our lives and love. He sacrificed for us and we are to take His sacrifice and use it on behalf of others. We love because He first loved us! We treat one another the way God has already treated us! That is our calling in Christ Jesus. We are to behave toward others as God has already behaved toward us in Christ. We have been called into His holiness. "But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior." (I Pet. 1:15) Maybe we need to rethink the standard of living by which we live and it might open our eyes to why we live such shallow and weak lives rather than drawing from the power of our heavenly Father through Christ Jesus our Lord.