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#35 Do unto others…
Read Matthew 7:12-14ย
โ12 So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 13 Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Our culture often restates this saying of Jesus as โdo unto others as you would have them do to youโ. We call this command the Golden Rule because itโs not just a summary of all of the Law and Prophets (the pre-Jesus part of the Bible) but Jesus says it is the Law and the Prophets. Put simply, relating to others as we would have them relate to us is a summary of every doctrine, teaching, command, poem, prayer and story in the Bible.
Significantly, the summary of Godโs revelation to mankind isnโt, โThou shalt notโ but rather, โThou shallโ. While Jesus clearly affirms Godโs ongoing negative directives to avoid sin, โDo not get drunkโ, โDo not lieโ and โDo not have sex with someone youโre not married toโ, he summarises Godโs desire for humanity as a positive directive to love.
Todayโs world says if you can simply avoid doing โbad stuffโ (e.g. โDonโt be evilโ) then you are a โgoodโ person. However, Jesus speaks of a higher way of living. A way in which we donโt just avoid the Devil, but pursue Jesus – imitating Godโs design for humanity as modelled by Jesus.
Significantly, this pursuit of Jesus includes a willingness to love people regardless of the response we receive. Jesus didnโt wait for us to reciprocate. His example guides us away from the passivity of the status quo to the brilliance of a life marked by proactive, no-strings-attached love for others.
Interestingly, Jesus clarifies that this kind of life is not a free-for-all, โdo what feels goodโ kind of life. Rather, itโs a life based on โthe Law and the Prophetsโ. Anyone who wants to live this kind of life needs to โenter by the narrow gateโ. In other words, he, not we, defines the way to this kind of, โThou shaltโ life. He makes it perfectly clear that while this kind of life is his perfect design, itโs โhardโ! The reason is simple; left to ourselves, our society does to others what suits ourselves. It takes God, his laws, Spirit and people to guide us to the narrow gate and the hard road that leads to life!
If there was ever a time when the world needed followers of Jesus to take the hard road and live this kind of proactive life it is now. Jesus’ โgoldenโ strategy is the one that is most likely to truly set us free from our greatest limitation – ourselves.
In what way can you mirror Godโs love for others, treating others as you would like to be treated?