On Religion: Ready to live The Golden Rule? – VVdailypress.com

Dane Davis| For the Victorville Daily Press

Youve probably run into many people who say they follow The Golden Rule.

They might say, Im not into church or religion, but I follow The Golden Rule. Or, Im a pretty good person. I try to live by The Golden Rule.

But Gods word answers back, No, you dont! You dont live by The Golden Rule because you cant. Its impossible utterly impossible for you to consistently Do unto others what you would have them do unto you unless I do it through you.

Its impossible to follow The Golden Rule on the outside unless Jesus Christ is working on the inside. And faithful, heartfelt, persistent prayer is the only soil from which The Golden Rule grows.

Jesus shares The Golden Rule this way in Matthew 7:12: So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Critics of the Bible like to make the case that Jesus didnt come up with this. They say it was around for centuries before he spoke it. They point out that Confucius said, What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others. And that the Greek king Nicocles wrote, Do not do to others the things which make you angry when you experience them at the hands of other people.

Theres no doubt that many ancient philosophers and teachers taught something similar, but all of them are negative forms of The Golden Rule: Dont do unto others what you dont want them to do unto you.

Jesus, on the other hand, did something revolutionary. He gave us a positive form of the command. And theres a big difference between the negative and positive forms.

William Barclay explains it this way: It is one thing to say, I must not injure people … It is quite another to say, I must go out of my way to help other people and to be kind to them.

Barclay goes on to say, It is never difficult not to do things. … A man might forever refrain from doing any injury to anyone else, and yet be a quite useless citizen to his fellow men. A man could satisfy the negative form of the rule by simple inaction; if he consistently did nothing, he would never break it.

If being a successful brain surgeon only requires us to not injure anyone during surgery, we could all be millionaire brain surgeons right now without any medical training. All wed have to do is scrub up, walk into the operating room and do nothing. Doing nothing would mean success. And our Yelp reviews would all be 5 stars because we would never injure anyones brain.

So many people think they live by Jesus Golden Rule. But the truth is, theyre living by Confucius inferior, negative version of it. They think, I have a perfect record. Ive never murdered anyone, never raped anyone, never robbed a bank, never cheated on my wife. Well, whoop-dee-doo! Just about every atheist on the planet can say the same thing.

Once again, Jesus raises the bar. His Golden Rule is not natural. Its supernatural. The reason most people who know the rule dont live it out is because they cant. Living it out requires a supernatural overhaul on the inside one that can only be done by Jesus Christ. Unless Jesus gives you a new heart, a new mind and a new love for those around you, and helps you every step of the way, you can never live by The Golden Rule. But what is impossible with man is possible with God. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

So, how can you learn to live it out? Well, Begin by praying these three prayers:

Father in heaven, please forgive me for my sin: If you have unforgiven sin in your life, you will not be able to do unto others. You cannot love supernaturally if your heart and mind are filled with unnatural wickedness.

Father in heaven, please help me get to know and love you better and better: Because The Golden Rule is supernatural, theres no way that you could possibly live it out until you see it lived out by your supernatural Savior. You must spend serious time in Gods word and in prayer to know him better. Jesus Christ is your role model, the only one to perfectly live out the rule. Pay careful attention to the way he loves undeserving people, so that you can love undeserving people, too. And your love for Christ must deepen in order for your love for people to deepen. You cant love people better unless you love Christ better.

Father in heaven, please help me to love as Jesus loves: God will help you, but youve got to want it. Youve got to keep asking, seeking and knocking. If you do, God will answer your prayers. He will help you love the people around you with a supernatural, unconditional love. And when that happens, the people around you will experience heaven on earth like never before.

They will experience Jesus like never before through you.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church. Join Impacts in-person worship service at 9 a.m. Sunday at 17746 George Boulevard in Victorville, or tune in online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. Visit http://www.GreaterImpact.cc for more information.

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On Religion: Ready to live The Golden Rule? - VVdailypress.com