“So, whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus lays out what life looks like for His followers in the Kingdom of Heaven. In the sermon, Jesus begins to ratchet up the standard for those who would come to follow Him. Jesus is very clear that mechanically following the law is not the standard, but that obedience is a heart issue. Among the many statements Jesus makes in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7:12 is one of those that sounds good and makes sense, but it can be hard to live it out practically.
One thing I have learned in life is that some people are just easy to love. Easy to live life with, easy to share with, talk to, and keep in touch with. However, the opposite is true, right? Some people can be difficult, needy, and draining. So then, how are we to love and prefer other people? How do we treat others the way we wish to be treated? Even the people in our life that are most difficult to love.
I think that if we look at the verses just before verse 12, we see a couple of truths from Scripture that help us along as we seek to love people. The first thing we see is that Jesus says to ask, seek, and knock. In verse 8, Jesus tells us the result of asking, seeking, and knocking. “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” We must be proactive in running to Jesus to give us the strength and desire to love people as we love ourselves. The second truth we see is that God is willing to answer, give, and open. Already in Matthew 6, Jesus has instructed us to address God as Father when we pray. Here in verses 9-11, Jesus assures us that God is a good Father, willing to give us what we ask for.
So let us raise the standard of how we love people to not just say we love them but to actually love them as we love ourselves. We know also, that when this is difficult, we can run to Our Father who will hear us and wants to provide for us.
Blessings, Jeff