A Rule to Live By

Matthew 7:12 

We are very near the end of the Master’s great sermon.  It is here that Jesus comes to the heart of the matter telling his disciples, “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, For this is the Law and the Prophets” (NASB).  This is what has become known as the Golden Rule.  In His sermon Jesus has already contrasted life in the kingdom of God with life under the Law of Moses (Matt. 5:21-48).  Now He condenses the whole teaching of the Old Testament into this single profound thought.

This command is so simple to understand yet, in many ways, so difficult to follow.  It is not that we fail to see the wisdom of Christ’s words.  Nor is it that we are unwilling or unable to follow His instruction.  Yet, try as we might, we often fall short.  We tend to replace the Golden Rule with the Silver Rule which states, “"Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.”  There is also the Iron Rule, “Do unto others before they do unto you,” which is too often found in the world but has no place in the church.

Why do we have trouble living by this rule?  One reason is that Satan works so hard to keep us from it.  He has convinced many that the Iron Rule is the only rule to live by if we want to really succeed in life—nice guys finish last.  When we see this for the great lie that it is he tells us that the Silver Rule is good enough—do what you want, just don’t hurt anybody.  While this sounds close to what Jesus taught it still misses the mark because we can follow this rule and never do anything good for anyone but ourselves.

To correctly apply the Golden Rule, in our dealings with others we must first think, “How would I want to be treated in this situation,” then do exactly that to the other person.  No one can deny that this requires doing good for every one we come in contact with every day.  This is the standard Jesus has asked us to strive for.  Let us all do our best to reach the mark He has set.

Thomas Sneed

Pond Church of Christ