THE GOLDEN RULE!
We have all heard of “the golden rule” and truthfully it is a good rule to live by in our every day lives! The term “golden rule” is never mentioned in Scripture, but there is plenty of application to be made all throughtout the Bible!
This morning, Leviticus 25:37-38 stuck out to me!
You are not to lend him your silver with interest or sell him your food for profit. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
Leviticus, as we have said, is a book of laws, with the intention of helping us to live a holy life! This specific part of Leviticus is outlining the Sabbath year, and the year of Jubilee!
If you would to know what that is, I would encourage you too read Leviticus 25-26.
But, in the verses above, we are dealing with how to handle interactions with other people. As I read this, I couldn't help but think of the golden rule!
We should remember this principle for 2 reasons:
1. We should treat others how we want to be treated.
We know this. It is the golden rule we have heard our whole lives. But did you know, another Biblical principle tied to this is the principle of reaping and sowing. If you plant potatoes, you are going to get potatoes. Same with tobacco, strawberries, etc. If you want to reap kindness, you must show kindness! You must sow that seed! We all want to be treated with respect, compassion, and grace. If we want to receive that, we must give that!
2. We should treat others how God treats us!
WOW! Even just thinking about that makes my head spin a little bit! God literally traded His perfect son, for me—a wicked sinner. We have no business being given mercy, grace, and compassion from God! But, we get new mercies every single day. We never run out! We can not exhaust His forgiveness! Because of that, we ought to show that same love and compassion and forgiveness to others! The verse even gives the reminder of what God has done for them; how good He has been to them!
Matthew 7:12
Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Do you remember the story of the man who owed a great deal to someone, and that man gave him grace. He showed kindness and patience and didn’t make him pay the money back? Then, that same man who had his debt forgiven, was very unkind and ungracious toward someone who owed him far far less than he himself owed?
We have all been given grace after grace! Mercy after mercy! Chance after chance! God will never keep score! He will never run out of kindness!
We shouldn't either!
Let’s practice the golden rule, today!!