Skip to main content

Dot to dot with The Golden jewel of a rule


The Golden Rule can be surmised as this,"Treat others as you want to be treated." Over the last month or so, I've been thinking a great deal about The Golden Rule in relation to my own relationship with God and others. In the book by Scot McKnight, 40 Days living the Jesus Creed, he explains more about the Golden Rule from Jesus' perspective.

"I used to think that the Golden Rule was pablum, food for a child. I also thought that when I grew up spiritually, I'd put away pablum and eat meat. The older I get, the more experience I have in the church and with Christians, and the longer I seek to follow the Jesus Creed (Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all of your strength and with all of your mind.)..., the more the Golden Rule looks like the real meat and the supposed deep things look like a commentary on the Golden Rule."(McKnight,109)


Our challenge as followers of Jesus is to actively an unbiasedly live the Golden Rule with EVERYONE.

McKnight explains this further in stating, " Not just with those you love and like, or with your neighbors and friends. Live the Golden Rule with everyone. Not just on Sunday or in the evening when you are at home, or on the weekends when you have free time, but always: when you get up and when you go to work and when you are in a scrap with someone and when you are stressed... Those who live by Jesus' principles live a different kind of life."
(pg 110 - 40 days living the Jesus Creed).

Matthew 22:37-40, resonates in the Golden Rule, in regard to living holistically by encompassing the foundations of loving God, ourselves and others and finding was to live these commands out in daily life.

Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

By breaking all the commandments down to these condensed principles, Jesus helps to connect the dots of hearing a command and carrying it out. It is easy to get sidetracked in the various processes of living out faith in a way that would honor Christ. Sometimes it is most difficult to know where to start. I think that is why he broke these points down into something that could be easily remembered.

Love God with all of your being and love your neighbor(whomever that may be) as yourself.

God help us to connect the dots of principle into practice in our daily lives. May we live changed and different lives. We need our lives to be nourished by your example so we can radiates your love to those around us; in all situations and all relationships. In everything do unto others, to self and to You, what we would want done to us.

God give us the strength to be Golden.

Image from Idioms by Kids.

Comments

Mel said…
'Zactly!

Thinkin' I'll go practice that....

Popular posts from this blog

SWB: Claustrophobia and clearings

Mary Lue shared her host post on business and rest for this weeks Sleeping with Bread Examen. Her words resonated with me in the fact that due to a significant staff change at my office, there is more work to be done and my plate is feeling fuller lately. There have been more meetings, and lots of talking and planning. For the most part, I've felt much more connected to people since I've become more involved in this way, but oddly when I'm done for the day or night - I find myself in need of some quiet. Maybe I'm still sorting and planning in the back of my mind, but silence (even my own) is something I find myself being more and more drawn too. It's like the extra noise, both internal and external, makes me feel claustrophobic . A few days after Christmas, I went into a game store with my son and was overwhelmed by all the noise and activity there. The store was tiny but filled with kids and their parents vying for their video game of choice. My head felt hot, my

Sunny and rainy day friends

There are two kinds of friends in the world: Sunny day friends and rainy day friends. This is a statement that my Mom used to remind me of when I was in the midst of drama or conflict with one school friend of another. There are lots of people that we define as friends, but they are really acquaintances. Two men were out hunting in the northern U.S. Suddenly one yelled and the other looked up to see a grizzly charging them. The first started to frantically put on his tennis shoes and his friend anxiously asked, "What are you doing? Don't you know you can't outrun a grizzly bear?" "I don't have to outrun a grizzly. I just have to outrun you!" This story is funny, but it does help define the distinct difference between a rainy day friend and a sunny day friend. The sunny-day-friend is more concerned with watching out for their own health and wellness, than their friends' wellbeing. On the other hand, a rainy day friend is willing to take risks, work fo

What Summer Camp Means to Me...

  I was around six-years-old when I first went to sleep-away summer camp.  At the time I lived in PA and the camp (through my church) was in Ohio. All school year, I attended Sunday School faithfully partially because regular attendance allowed my family scholarships to help with the cost of Summer Camp. Over the school year, I attended most Sunday's and by the end of the year, my little coupon book was full of stamps - providing me with a scholarship to attend a camp session. I provide this background on how I first got to go to camp, because it is an essential part of explaining what Summer Camp meant (and means) to me.   Going away to Summer Camp gave me a whole new experience of community. The whole process of going to and attending was the first times I experienced, "it takes a village", personally. From the Sunday School Teachers who drove a sedan full of kids to Ohio, to the counselors and staff who supported new campers: through the first 48 hours of homesickness