Daily Devotional For Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Today is “Terrific Tuesday!” I hope it is for you. We are making our way through the most famous sermon ever – Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount. It is found in Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7. We are currently in Matthew 7:12: “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (NASB).

Jesus gives three reasons for obeying the command to love others as ourselves: God’s promise to His children demands it, His pattern for His children demands it, and His purpose for His children demands it (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” pp. 442-448). We have already looked at the first two reasons, and today we come to the third reason Jesus gave for us to obey “The Golden Rule” – His purpose for His children demands it. 1 John 4:8b says, “For God is love” (NASB). God’s love is perfect and His perfect love is most demonstrated in us when we treat others the way we want to be treated.

One of the reasons Jesus gave us “The Golden Rule” is that it is a proof of our salvation and relationship to Him. Unbelievers, lost people, the unredeemed, and the unrepentant cannot do this because they do not have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. They can try, but it would be only temporary. Why? Good intentions eventually have a way of developing into graveling dissension. Do not misunderstand me. Unbelievers and lost people can obtain a high level of ethical standards, but they cannot sustain such selflessness because they do not have the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in them. 

Jesus’ statement in verse 12 is a paraphrase of Leviticus 19:18, “. . . you shall love your neighbor as yourself . . .” (NASB). The Golden Rule tells us how we are to love other people, especially other disciples of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul reminds of this in:

• Galatians 6:10, “So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (NASB).
• Romans 13:8, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law” (NASB).
• Galatians 5:14, “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (NASB).

Our love for one another is a witness and a testimony. Jesus said this in John 13:35, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (NASB). How we treat others is not to be determined by how we expect them to treat us or by how we think they should treat us, but by how we want them to treat us. Herein is the heart of the principle, an aspect of the general truth that is not found in similar expressions in other religions and philosophies. Pastor and author John MacArthur writes this:

“For many years the basic instrument of music was the harpsichord. As its keys are depressed, a given string is plucked to create the desired note, much as a guitar string is plucked with a pick. But the tone made in that way is not pure, and the mechanism is relatively slow and limiting. Sometime during the last quarter of the eighteenth century, during Beethoven’s lifetime, an unknown musician modified the harpsichord so that the keys activated hammers that struck, rather than plucked, the strings. With that minor change, a major improvement was made that would henceforth radically enhance the entire musical world, giving a grandeur and breadth never before known.

That is the sort of revolutionary change Jesus gives in the golden rule. Every other form of this basic principle has been given in purely negative terms, and is found in the literature of almost every major religion and philosophical system. 

• • The Jewish rabbi Hillel said, “What is hateful to yourself do not to someone else.” The book of Tobit in the Apocrypha teaches, “What thou thyself hatest, to no man do.”
  • The Jewish scholars in Alexandria who translated the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) advised in a certain piece of correspondence, “As you wish that no evil befall you, but to be a partaker of all good things, so you should act on the same principle toward your subjects and offenders.”
  • Confucius taught, “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.” An ancient Greek king named Nicocles wrote, “Do not do to others the things which make you angry when you experience them at the hands of other people.”
  • The Greek philosopher Epictetus said, “What you avoid suffering yourself, do not afflict on others.”
  • The Stoics promoted the principle, “What you do not want to be done to you, do not do to anyone else.” In every case the emphasis is negative. The principle is an important part of right human relations, but it falls short—far short—of God’s perfect standard” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 446).

All of these quotes above can only go as far as a sinful person allows. The truth is they are not expressions of love, but of self-interest. The motivation is basically selfish— refraining from harming others in order that they will not harm us. Those negative forms of the rule are not golden, because they are primarily practical and motivated by fear and self-preservation. Look at Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (NASB). Look at Romans 3:12, “All have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one” (NASB).

Our basic problem is ourselves. We think first about the pronouns “I, me, my, and mine” before we think about “our, yours, and we.” Whether we want to admit it or not, we are narcissistic – a term named after someone in Greek mythology who spent his entire life admiring his reflection in a pool of water. The only reason we sin is due to our own selfishness and self-centeredness. We prefer to worship ourselves rather than the Lord Jesus Christ. The unregenerate person cannot break free from their narcissism, addiction and idolatry of self. Only Jesus Christ can do that for us and when He does, His Holy Spirit then starts producing the “Fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22-23) in us rather than the “Fruit of the Flesh” (Gal. 5:19-21) in us. Look at Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (NASB).

Look at the following verses:

• Romans 5:5, “And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (NASB).
• John 13:34, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (NASB).
• 1 John 4:19, “We love, because He first loved us” (NASB).

Selfless love does not serve in order to prevent its own harm or to insure its own welfare. It serves for the sake of the one being served, and serves in the way it likes being served — whether it ever receives such service or not. That level of love is the divine level, and can be achieved only by divine help. Only God’s children can have right relations with others, because they possess the motivation and the resource to refrain from self-righteously condemning others and to love in an utterly selfless way.

New Testament scholar Bruce B. Barton writes this:

“The well-known Rabbi Hillel, when challenged to teach the entire Law while standing on one foot, said, “Whatever angers you when you suffer it at the hands of others, do not do it to others, this is the whole law.” By stating this positively, Jesus made the statement even more significant. It may be easy to refrain from harming others, but it is much more difficult to take the initiative in doing something good for them. A person may be able to keep the negative form of the law by avoiding sin, but to keep the positive form requires action. This is the key to the radical discipleship that Jesus wants. The Golden Rule is the foundation of active goodness and mercy—the kind of love God shows to us every day. The word “so” links Jesus’ words “do to others what you would have them do to you” with the teachings presented thus far in the Sermon on the Mount (beginning at 5:1). Not only does this rule describe briefly the behavior expected of Jesus’ followers, it also sums up the Law and the Prophets, as Rabbi Hillel said. When we follow the Golden Rule, we keep the rest of God’s commands” (Source: Bruce B. Barton, The Life Application Bible Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 134).

The Golden Rule is only golden to the disciples of Jesus if we live it out, especially to those who have hurt or harmed us or someone we love. Carrying a grudge equals hating the Lord Jesus Christ. One cannot with all sincerity claim they love the Lord who modeled this and command us to model it and at the same time, act like one who is unredeemed. One of the true tests of one’s discipleship is do you treat others who have hurt or harmed you or someone you love the way Jesus would treat them? 

Questions To Consider

1. Do you think that most people love themselves and put themselves first over others? Why or why not?
2. What to you is the most challenging aspect to living out the Golden Rule and why?
3. Why is living out the Golden Rule to those who have hurt or harmed us someone we love one of the proofs of our salvation?
4. Forms of the Golden Rule can be found all throughout history. Yet, there has been so much strife, wars, heartache and dissension in each of those cultures? With such a great axiom to live by, why do you think so many choose not to live by it? Why do you think so many in the church choose not to live by it? Do you ever choose not to live by it? If so, why? What does this tell you about your own salvation and relationship to Christ?
5. What do you need to do differently to live out the Golden Rule, especially to those who have hurt or harmed you or someone you love to bring glory to Jesus Christ?

Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Corinthians 13:5, “. . . love keeps no record of being wronged” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, living out the Golden Rule is easy with people I love and enjoy, it is those people who have hurt or harmed me or someone I love where I struggle. This is an area where I am not as mature as I wish I were. I can justify my grudges and resentment to myself, but not to You. Please help me to love such people as You and leave the judging to You. I know that if I do not, it will affect and damage my relationship and walk with You and with others. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly