Jump Start # 180 

Matthew 7:12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

  This week, Jump Starts will take a look at Matthew 7, the third chapter of the Sermon on the Mount. We start with one of the best known verses from that chapter, what we call the golden rule. The Bible actually doesn’t use that expression, “golden rule,” but we can understand where it got that expression. It is the best rule. It is above all other rules. It is the rule that would change the way people treat one another.

  This “rule” of Jesus is proactive, instead of reactionary. It is based on a theory not a reality. Here is what I mean. We typically are reactionary people. If someone is kind, we are kind back. If they are in our face, our defenses are up and we back off. We respond to the way they treat us. This “rule” doesn’t do that. Without saying the word, Jesus is showing us Biblical love, the Greek word, AGAPE. This love isn’t a feeling or an emotion, it is a choice. A person choose to be kind, or nice, or helpful, or forgiving. This love is not based upon the other person’s attitude nor reaction. It is one directional. This is what is beneath the surface of the “rule” of Matthew 7. It means you choose a behavior instead of responding to a behavior. That’s hard! But it is what God desires.

  Secondly, this “rule” is based upon a theory. Jesus said, “treat people the same way you want them to treat you.” The way you want them to treat you, not the way they ARE treating you. This is a theory. It may never happen to you, but you can make it happen to others. We’d love for people to be forgiving when we mess up and are wrong. Often we get our heads chewed off, at home, at work and at the store. We’d like people to give us a second chance. That doesn’t happen very often. We’d like people to be kind, generous and good to us. Instead we get grumpy, dumpy and stupid as bosses, waitresses, and store clerks. We wonder at the end of the day, “is there anybody nice anymore?” And the answer is “yes.” We are. We are to treat people the way we would like to be treated.

  Now doing this necessitates grace on our part. Because, first of all, most people do not deserve to be treated kind and nice. A swift kick would probably do them more good. But this is exactly what God did for us. We were not deserving of His grace and yet He offered it to us. Romans says, “While we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). Being kind to rude and grumpy people is hard. At the best, we’d like to ignore them. At the worst, we want to throw the same attitudes back at them. But that’s not what Jesus expects of His disciples.

  Treat them the way you would like to be treated! Three things often happen when you do this:

1. First, grumpy and mean people soften up, even if for just a moment. It’s hard to be a grouch when someone goes out of their way to be nice.

2. It definitely makes you feel better. When you get down in the mud with someone and have a cat fight, the result is ugly. Being kind, gracious and generous warms the soul. Jesus said, it is better to give than receive. That works in so many different ways.

3. Some people remain mean. They seem to be stuck on that and content to be miserable everyday God has given them. Not everyone is changed by the golden rule. That is not reason for us to stop or give up. We are to do this, because Jesus wants us to.

  Do you remember the ultimate expression of the Golden Rule? It’s found in the gospels. Jesus is dying on the cross, and He looks down at the very people who drove the nails into His hands and feet and prayed, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” That’s GOLD!

That’s Jesus. And He wants His people to follow that example!

  Try it today. Try treating people the way you would like to be treated. It changes things and it changes you!

Roger