The Golden Rule

Treating Others as We Would Want to be Treated

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Jesus, Matthew 7:7–12)

In looking at what Jesus says about how we should relate to others, we have observed

that we must be understanding, not critical. Secondly, we are to treat others as we would want to be treated. This is popularly known as the “Golden Rule.” The question, though, is whether it is popularly obeyed. In theory, we seem highly supportive of this principle, but in practice, we seem to have many reasons for not applying it.

            It is encouraging to note what Jesus says beforehand, for He reminds His listeners that they have a heavenly resource for accomplishing what seems impossible. When we think we could never love a person who treated us so badly or failed us so miserably, God is able to supply what we lack.

            A Christian woman named Corrie Ten Boom, who survived the WWII holocaust, tells the story of speaking to a group of people in Germany after the war about God’s forgiveness. She says that afterward:

People stood up in silence, in silence collected their wraps, in silence left the room.

And that’s when I saw him, working his way forward against the others.  One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones.  It came back with a rush:  the huge room with its harsh overhead lights; the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor; the shame of walking naked past this man.  I could see my sister’s frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were! 

The place was Ravensbruck, and the man who was making his way forward had been a guard— one of the most cruel guards. 

Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out:  “A fine message, Fraulein!  How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!” 

And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand.  He would not remember me, of course—how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women? 

But I remembered him and the leather crop swinging from his belt.  I was face-to-face with one of my captors, and my blood seemed to freeze. 

“You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk,” he was saying.  “I was a guard

there.”  No, he did not remember me. 

“But since that time,” he went on, “I have become a Christian.  I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well, Fraulein.”  Again, the hand came out, “Will you forgive me?” 

And I stood there—I whose sins had again and again to be forgiven—and could

not forgive.  Betsie had died in that place—could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking? 

It could not have been many seconds that he stood there—hand held out—but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do. 

For I had to do it—I knew that. . .I knew it not only as a commandment of God but as a daily experience.  Since the end of the war I had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality.  Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars.  Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids.  It was as simple and as horrible as that. 

And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart.  But forgiveness is not an emotion—I knew that too.  Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.  “Jesus, help me!”  I prayed silently.  “I can lift my hand. I can do that much.  You supply the feeling.”

And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me.  And as I did, an incredible thing took place.  The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. 

And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.  “I forgive you, brother!” I cried.  “With all my heart.”

For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner.  I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.  But even so, I realized it was not my love.  I had tried, and did not have the power.  It was the power of the Holy Spirit as recorded in Romans 5:5, “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Ten Boom, 83–86)

            Ten Boom says that her ability to forgive and show love in this trying situation was not her own. Asking, seeking, and knocking at the throne room of heaven is our only hope of having the power to love as we are called to.

            So we can love others because we have a Father to help us, but we can also love others because we have a Father who demonstrates love to us. Jesus shows that even humans, which are “evil,” desire to give to their children, so a perfect Father will most certainly give good things to those who ask. Knowing the love and care of God should lead us to treat others with grace and kindness.

            Finally, treating others as we would want to be treated fulfills God’s will. The message of Law and the Prophets can be summed up in the idea of love. This is brought out in other places in the Scripture. Paul says, “ Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8). And James says, “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors” (James 2:8, 9). Clearly, the Christian ethic is to be epitomized by love, and followers of Christ should stand out because of the love they possess and share, treating others as they would want to be treated.

Works Cited:

Corrie Ten Boom, Jamie Buckingham, Life Lessons From Corrie Ten Boom: Tramp for the Lord (Grand Rapids: Revell, 1974, 2004).

All Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version.  Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.