I've been observing, both near and far. It's time I said something. I hope you hear it.
Treat people as you would like to be treated.
You name the realm of life…this applies.
Politics. Do politicians want to be treated the way they treat their colleagues or constituents? Surely not.
Business. Do corporations, business-people, and consumers was to be treated the way they treat other corporations, business-people, and consumers? Surely not.
Work. Do employers and employees really want to be treated the way they treat one another? Co-workers, do you really want to be treated the way you treat your co-workers? Surely not.
Marriage and Family. Do we really want to be treated the way we treat our spouse and family? Surely not.
Must I go on? I can. You can, too, because you see all this going on around you.
The problem is we don't see it going on inside us.
Here's the problem. We are all broken people, broken by our own sinfulness. "Wait a minute," you say, "I'm not a sinner. I've never done anything really bad." Can I just cut through the nonsense and tell you that even you are a sinner. You may not understand what sin really is but that doesn't change the fact that you are a sinner. I am, too.
A big problem with sin is how it impacts our ability or willingness to treat others with kindness. So we are cold, rude, mean, vindictive, hateful, bitter, ugly, hurtful, manipulative, inconsiderate. And we often like it. We like it so much that we don't think about changing.
As I read the Bible I don't find accounts of men and women who realized they needed to change and willed themselves to be better. I see just the opposite. Like you and me, the people in the Bible don't see their sin-fed problems and just continue in them unless something outside of them happens.
In our world, an addict has to hit rock bottom, a family has to fall apart, and business has to go bankrupt, dreams have to come crashing down, etc., before we put much serious thought into changing.
In our world people are valued and praised and rewarded for using people rather than loving people. Listen to the lyrics of popular music. Listen to the chatter in your workplace. Listen to the sounds at the local athletic event. Listen to interviews of pop culture icons. Listen to the speeches and soundbites of the politicians.
Sin impacts how you relate to others and there is nothing you can do about it.
But God can. All the people in the Bible who changed did so by the power of God, not their own. God can do the same for you and me if we'll stop living by our own desires and look to Jesus Christ for help and leadership and change.
We are all sinners and our sin is between us and God creating a gap that we cannot cross. We are separated or alienated from God. But God loves us and demonstrated his love by having his son Jesus Christ die for the penalty and punishment of our sins so we don't have to stay separated from God but can be reconciled to him through the death of Jesus. Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved from their sin and its penalty. They will be accepted into God's family.
And each day you can get out of bed with the thought that today you are going to follow Jesus in your thoughts, actions, and attitudes. You can't do it yourself, but God can do it in you.
One of the changes you'll see in your own life will be in how you treat others. When you see the change in your own life you'll realize that Jesus is the answer to other sin-fed issues you have. God can change them, too.
You'll also realize that following Jesus Christ is the answer to the sin-fed problems people around you experience. I'm not saying that by following Jesus Christ nobody will treat you bad, but you won't treat others that way. And a lot of the problems I experience are brought on by the way I treat others.
I hope the right people hear this. Especially me.
"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).
