GOD’S GRACE ON DISPLAY

Matthew 7:12 New Living Translation

“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.”

            This verse is commonly referred to as ‘The Golden Rule’.  This is not advice and it’s not conditional.  Our Heavenly Father is telling us to act in this manner. Will others always reciprocate? Absolutely not! This is the key element to the Rule.  You don’t do it to receive something in return; you do it because it’s the right thing to do.  Taking revenge or rebuffing others because they to not receive well your kindness is unwarranted behavior.  God didn’t say, “Treat others the way you would like to be treated and they will respond in like kind”.  Quite frankly, it is relevant how people respond to our kindness.  It is what a new creation in Christ should do.  It is how they will know we are different then others in the world.  If we stand out, let us stand out for all the right reasons.

            God is good and willing to give of himself for the benefit of others.  That is to be our role model.  Christ did not come simply to teach us what we are to know and believe; he also told us and showed us what we are to do as well.  It’s easy to treat those of like faith with kindness, but what of those we may be at odds with or total strangers we meet in the course of our day?  We are to treat God and all men with the same attitude that is declared by Christ.  That is not to say that would always be easy.  We must allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and our faith to carry us thru such things. 

            Conversely, we are absolutely not to do to others as they do to us, specifically when they perform an unprovoked, evil act against us.  Another difficult thing to do made easier if placed in the hands of God.  The Lord can then diffuse our anger and replace it with peace.  We must want to achieve peace though and not allow anger to consume us.  We need to allow the Holy Spirit to flow thru us and not react negatively to ill will toward us.  We shouldn’t do what we do for our sake but for the sake of the King we serve.  In actuality this is nothing more than displaying God’s grace to another individual.  The Golden Rule represents God’s undeserved favor toward man.  How awesome is that? Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resources: The Life Application Study Bible; The Reformation Study Bible and The Matthew Henry Commentary of the Bible.