How can a Christian maintain the Golden Rule?
Most people know the words we call “The Golden Rule.” They are, “Do unto others what you would want them to do unto you.” This saying is based on the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 7:12, “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (NKJV). In other words, this was one the central messages of the Law which was given by Moses and later by the Old Testament prophets. In Leviticus 1:1 & 18 we read, “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel and say to them…You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF: I am the LORD.” When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He said, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. There is no other commandment greater than these.’” (Mark 12:29-31). These words are a summary of all the commandments that make up the Law.
I said the Golden Rule is based on the words “Love your neighbor as yourself,” but what men fail to see is that this is impossible if we don’t “Love the Lord your God with all your heart.” The fact is we can’t love the Lord God because of SIN! We were all “born in sin” (Psalm 51:5) and sin separates us from God (Ephesians 2:1). Until one is “born again” through faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross (John 3:1-8, 14-16), we HATE GOD. Jesus told His disciples, “If the world hates you, you know that it HATED ME before it hated you…He who HATES ME HATES MY FATHER ALSO. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also HATED BOTH ME AND MY FATHER. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which was written in their law, ‘They HATED ME without a cause’” (John 15:18, 22-25). So, the Law commanded people to love the Lord God but it also taught that men would hate God because of sin. And because men hate God, they are unable to “love their neighbor as their self.” One MUST love God in order to love their fellowman!
Yet we read in 1 John 4:9-10, “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, NOT THAT WE LOVED GOD, but the HE LOVED US and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” In love for you and me, God sent His Son into the world to solve the “problem of sin” by allowing His Son to take our sins upon Himself on the cross and bear the judgment due to those sins (see Isaiah 53:5-6 with 1 Peter 2:24). Once a sinner believes this amazing, good news their sins (which causes us to hate God) are taken away (John 1:29; Acts 10:43; 13:38-39;). A few verses later in 1 John 4:19 we read, “We love Him because He first loved us.” It is by seeing “His love for us” (at the cross) that causes us to “love Him.” Some translations read, “We love, because He first loved us,” which means that we not only “love God” but we also have the capacity to “love others.” God’s love creates love in us that goes out to others!
This, dear friend, is the answer to your question, for after we are forgiven and born again, we can “love God and our neighbor as ourselves.” And to “maintain the Golden Rule,” we need to constantly focus on “God’s love for us.” As we immerse ourselves in the love of God, we will naturally “love God” and “do unto others what we would want them to do unto you.” Jesus said, “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; ABIDE IN MY LOVE” (John 15:9). The Apostle Paul prayed that we may be “rooted and grounded in love” and “to know that love of Christ which passes knowledge” (Ephesians 3:17, 19). The “love of Christ” is like “an ocean without shores;” it is infinitely DEEP, and we are privileged to drink it in and enjoy it, and as we do, His love will be manifested through us to others. (DO) (628.3)