Daily Devotional

-January 20, 2021-

Good morning, happy Wednesday, happy Inauguration Day-

-Treat Others As You Want To Be Treated-

“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and Prophets.”

(Matthew 7:12).

Today’s verse is such a powerful and inclusive verse. It covers our lifestyle, and the way we treat others in all our relationships. It is commonly known as the “Golden Rule.” So many people erroneously think that by following it, they will go to heaven, which it totally wrong. Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ who died for us on the cross.

This verse among many others, directs us as believers how to live as Christians in this world. To apply this verse correctly one must ask, “How do I want to be treated? What does the Bible say in both the OT and the NT about how to do good to others? Then we can follow the words of Jesus, “…Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 22:36-39 says, “Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.’” We cannot love our neighbor as ourselves without loving God with everything we have.

The way we treat others shows a lot about our Christianity. Jesus Christ is our example. Our goal is to live as He lived, to love as He loved, and to labor as He labored. He had great compassion on people and never turned anyone in need away. We all want to be loved, accepted, forgiven, respected, and be shown justice, fairness, kindness and gentleness. Then we must treat others that way. This should be a challenge to each and every one of us. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to do it.

If every Christian lived this way, what a difference we would make in this world! May the Lord help us to treat others as we want to be treated. People want to see that we care about them. If they don’t, they won’t listen to our message.

Have a blessed day treating others as we want to be treated and to love them as ourselves. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean