As I’ve been going through the Sermon on the Mount preparing for Sunday mornings, I keep reminding myself that Jesus is not giving us more laws, but a new way of living with his abiding presence inside of us, and the fellowship only he can create among us. So I see in Matthew 7 the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have them do to you, and I can only think of all the times I’ve used it as law on myself, my children, and in conversations about behavior with other kids in church. I’m not sure that I’ve only misused it, but now I think that I’ve been missing out.
In Christ, I am free to treat you the way I want to be treated, because I do not have to get ahead of you. I don’t have to think of myself as better than you. Paul the apostle said that we are supposed to consider others as better than ourselves. He also said that we should try to outdo each other in showing honor to each other. I can do that because I am in Christ and He is in me.
We have the opportunity as Christians and as a church to have a community that surpasses what most people have ever known, and that community is our appeal to the world that God loves them.
For the joy set before you, do to others what you would have them do for you.
