The Golden Rule

“What you sow is what you reap” was what I heard from my parents as I grew up. That quote was normally followed with “Do unto others as you would have them do to you.” (Matthew 7:12) And for many years I thought it was a threat or at the very least a warning to always be on my best behavior. But lately I have understood a deeper meaning in what many call the “Golden Rule”.

I suppose that the reason I thought the Golden Rule was a warning or a threat was because I saw myself as a result of what everyone else did around me. I hadn’t taken ownership of my decisions, much less my life. For instance, I was “good” because that was what the rules said. When I wasn’t recognized it was because someone else was better than me. When I wasn’t accepted or something didn’t go my way it was because “they didn’t like me”, “They didn’t notice”. Everything happened to me because of others' positions, thoughts, actions…I didn’t see myself as a victim but as a puppet or the product of some strange equation.

But then, while meditating on Matthew 7:12, I saw something that has changed my life. Jesus is giving us the key to what we want to receive. He isn’t saying “Be careful of what you do, ‘cause somehow it will be done back to you.” NO! He is saying that “if there is something that you would like others to do to you, that is what you must do first.”

It’s the same concept in sowing and reaping. For the longest time, when I would see something happen (usually a bad thing) to another person, I would say under my breath “Sow and Reap”. But I realized that God is telling us that we don’t have to be carried by the tide or the waves of society. We can envision what we want to reap, and sow for that harvest.

WOW! We have our future in our hands. What a great responsibility, and an awesome truth.

Here are some verses to read over. Proverbs 11:18, Job 4:8, Matthew 7:12, and Luke 6:31

Take the time to think about what these verses say and take them to heart. Remember, you aren’t a victim of circumstance, nor are you any one’s puppet. You are in charge, so like the Templar Knight said to Indiana Jones in the Last Crusade “Choose wisely!”