The Golden Rule by Rocky Fleming
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12 (ESV)
As a child I memorized this verse, and I was told that it is the “Golden Rule.” I could quote it in a moment. All the kids could. I’ve never forgotten it. I’m sure most of you can do the same. It’s a great verse to memorize, for it is short. It’s good guidance from the greatest Teacher this world has ever heard. Even so, I did not follow this rule until much later, and I still have to catch myself when I get exasperated with people who require extra grace. I have to remember that Jesus teaches me to give to others what I want for myself, and this brings it home to me as I understand it more personally. I think it is very relevant today, as it seems that our society is being driven by angry, impatient emotions. Someone has to take the lead. What better way than to give something to someone that we desire, for we know firsthand what is needed.
There’s a companion verse, of sorts that speaks to me in a similar way. Let me share it:
“knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free." Ephesians 6:8 (ESV)
Here’s why I like this verse. It tells me that the Lord Himself comes to me to help me with the very thing I give away. I remember several years ago that I was in a fearful, discouraging place with a job I had back in Mississippi, where I lived at the time. For five years I felt discouraged, unappreciated, and disrespected. However, what I didn’t realize at the time was how God was using the circumstances that discouraged me, to drive me closer to Him. It was in that time of journaling through Ephesians that I read Ephesians 6:8. I felt the Lord was telling me to take my eyes off myself and look at another man who was greatly discouraged.
I felt God was leading me to give to the man what I wanted for myself. In obedience I asked this man to go with me to a city several hours away where he would be part of a gathering I was invited to. I made it my mission the whole way there and back, including when were there, to give him what I wanted. I wanted respect, so I gave it to him. I wanted to be reminded that things would be better if I would look to the love and sovereignty of God over my life, so I spoke to his needs with this exhortation. I needed laughter, so I made it my point to make him laugh. I wanted to feel appreciated, so I made it my point to make him feel appreciated and special. What I did was simply spoke my desires into him. I did it by faith and obedience, and he was indeed helped.
What about me? How were my needs met? It wasn’t instantaneously, but I saw a change begin to happen within me, as I felt the Lord’s assurance and encouragement in a deeper way. A delicate awakening began, as I took my eyes off myself. Those things that seemed so important to me faded away. God began to build a wall around my emotions, and the things that got to me before by some ruthless people became empty blanks as they fired them at me. They didn’t sting. They didn’t penetrate. They fell away, for God had me where He had been trying to lead me all along. He wanted me to see Him bigger than my problems and bigger than my enemy. He gave to me what He wanted for me, when I gave to another man what I wanted for myself.
The two verses I recorded in this blog entry will lead us to freedom, provided we will follow their lead. They are not to make us floormats. They are given to us to bless us by giving us a future and a hope. They are a guide to transformation, an entry into God’s heart, and a path to an intimate relationship with Him. So much of God’s word is like that. We have to step out in faith and entrust the outcome of our faith to the One we have faith in. Though we may feel that we are giving up too much of our self and our rights, the truth is we will gain much more. Trust in God is required. But trust in Him is always honored by Him.
The “Golden Rule” is called golden for like the precious metal of great value that gold is, honoring and obeying God in following this command stores up treasure in heaven for us. But I will also testify that we experience a lot of that treasure before heaven, for God blesses us greatly in this life when we obey Him. Try Him yourself and see for yourself that it is true.