Godliness Made Simple

 ¹² Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.  Matthew 7:12

Jesus, as only He can, takes something very complex and makes it simple. The Old Testament (referred to here as the “Law and the Prophets”) has 613 laws, or do’s and don’ts. It’s hard to keep just a couple of rules, how do you keep 613?  Well, Jesus tells us how.  We call it “The Golden Rule.”

Jesus says, “Whatever you want people to do to you, do to them.”  Notice this statement is positive, not negative. We often hear it as, “Don’t do to people what you wouldn’t want them to do to you” (negative).  However, Jesus says we’re to take the initiative and, “Do to others what we would have done to us” (positive).  So, if you think it would be nice for someone to offer help when you have the need, offer help to others when you see they need it. If you want others to come to you instead of talking behind your back, do the same for them. If you expect others to make an effort to understand you, make an effort to understand others.

Jesus says doing for others as you would have done to you fulfills all the laws in the Old Testament. For example the Law says, “Thou shall not lie.” In living out the Golden Rule you will naturally tell the truth. Since we all want others to be truthful to us, we’ll be truthful to others. The same with “Thou shall not commit adultery.” You want your spouse to be faithful to you, so be faithful to them.

The Golden Rule goes a step further than being honest because we want others to be honest with us: It leads us to help others with their burdens. reaching out in love; because truth be told, that’s how we want to be treated.

The Golden rule should be our motive to share the Gospel. We who believe the Gospel are eternally grateful to those who cared enough to step out of their comfort zone and share the hope of Jesus with us. Should this not lead us to do the same with others?

Living out the Golden Rule helps us simplify godly living. However simple does not mean easy. Living a godly life and doing to others as we would have them do to us takes commitment, but one well worth the effort.