So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.  Matthew 7:12 NIV

Well actually, I could just say have a nice day and be done with this one.  It needs very little explanation.  But you know me, I want to talk about it.

As the scripture says, this sums it up.  It sounds easy doesn’t it?  Just treat others the way you want to be treated.  You want to be treated well, so treat others well.

Easier said than done though, right?  This is because people don’t always treat us so well.  Our human nature causes us to want to treat them the way they are treating us.  If they are mean to us, we want to be mean to them. But that’s not what the scripture says.  It doesn’t say treat them the way they are treating you, it says treat them the way you want them to treat you.

Well lets dive a little deeper into this.  I am actually going to be spending this week looking at this very issue.  You see, for many years I was the queen of giving back what I got.  If you wronged me, I was going to seek revenge.  If you said something that I didn’t like, I had a sharp tongue and I was going to cut you down to size.  If you did something against me, I was going to make you pay in some way.  I was not going to let go of getting revenge.  I was okay with letting God deal with you, once I was finished.

But a few years ago when I had committed my life to Christ, I was angry with someone and I wanted to hurt them emotionally as they had hurt me.  But what does the Bible say?  The Bible says that if you want God to forgive you then you have to forgive others.

Now that put me into quite a pickle.  I had committed some sins that I definitely wanted God to forgive.  I definitely wanted God to forget that I had ever done these things.  So, now what?  In order to be forgiven, I was going to have to forgive this person of the terrible wrong they had committed against me?  Yes, that’s exactly what I had to do.  I had to forgive them, I had to forget and move on.  I had to turn this over to God.  This was way too big for me.

Now I am still a work in progress.  There are still times when I get angry at someone and start plotting revenge.  Fortunately though, before I get too far into the planning stage, I get this gentle nudge that says this is not the way Christians do it.

So the question here, is how do you want others to treat you?  Do you want them to be forgiving and patient when you make a mistake?  Do you want them to love you and be kind to you?  Do you want them to have your best interest at heart?  Do you want them to speak kindly to you?  Do you want them to help you up when you slip and fall?

More than likely you answered yes to each of those questions. Well good, now you know how you have to treat others.

As we go through this week, we will be delving a little bit further into this scripture passage and we will be looking at some other scripture passages that deal with how we treat others.

You see, our sin caused God to have to send his only son to earth to die a horrible death on the cross.  He did this to forgive us for our mistakes.  He did this because He loves us and is kind to us.  He did this because He had our best interest at heart.  He did this because we have all slipped and fallen down.  Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  He did this so that we could be picked up and continue on our journey.  He did this to give us a life filled with hope.

I don’t know about you my friend, but I am so grateful He did all these things.  I have needed all the mercy and grace that God has given me and continue to need it on a daily basis. So for this reason, when I find myself angry at others, I have to remind myself of this scripture.  I have to ask for God’s help to forgive them and often times have to ask God to remove any bitterness from my heart.

What God calls us to do is never easy, but He tells us that he will never leave us or forsake us and the Bible tells us that with God all things are possible.

This means that we can even love the unloveable, so for the next few days we will be looking at what the Bible says about that and talking about how we can accomplish this lofty goal.

Hope you have a great day!