I have been reflecting further on Jesus’ teaching which we call the Golden Rule—“Treat other people exactly as you would wish to be treated by them….”
I have been reading J. B. Phillips’ translation of the Gospels into modern English. It is one of the earliest translations of the Gospels into the vernacular. The Gospels are the part of the Bible with which I am the most familiar. I have read the Gospels dozens of times in several different translations. The Gospels are the part of the Bible to which I turn again and again.
You can search the Gospels from one end to another and you will not find any passage in which Jesus countenances any reason for not treating other people with kindness. We may convince ourselves that we have a good or legitimates reason for treating someone unkindly. We may convince our family and friends that we have a good or legitimate reason to be unkind to someone. But we are not going to sway Jesus.
Jesus says, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who treat you badly.” He says nothing like you can let this guy off the hook, but that guy you can let him have it. Jesus says, “You must be kind as your Father in heaven is kind….”
We may say to ourselves. “Jesus can’t mean that. I’m sure he’ll understand why I am sticking it to this guy. He did…..” But Jesus does not give us that option. If we are going to be his disciple, if we are going to emulate his life and teaching, then we must treat other people exactly as we would wish to be treated—in a spirit of kindness. This does not mean that we must go along with what they may have said or done, but it is does mean treating them with kindness.
Being kind goes beyond just being nice. When we are kind to other people, we do good to them whether or not they deserve it. We are generous to them. We are careful not to do them any harm. We are kind regardless of how difficult it may be.
Kindness is grace. We show goodwill and mercy toward other people, the same kind of goodwill and mercy that God shows toward us.
God sees our innermost selves. God knows if we are acting out of self-will or an intentional desire to do evil or if we are simply “a bungler with good intentions.” Nothing is hidden from God. God knows the truth of a matter irrespective of whether we conceal it from ourselves and other people.
While God is unwavering in his love for us, God grieves when we do not live in accordance with the way Jesus taught and showed us to live. God feels pain and sadness as a result of what we have said or done. While God is slow to become angry at us, rich in love, and ready to forgive, God is not unaffected by our words and actions. They do not go unnoticed. Our relationship with God suffers.
Here again I am reminding myself of these truths as much as I am reminding the readers of my blog. We may prefer to forget such truths when they are inconvenient to us, when they get in the way of what we want to say or do. But our conscience, that part of our mind that recognizes right from wrong, will not allow us to forget them. It is our conscience that helps us to decide what we should say or do under the circumstances—what is the right path to take.
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