Key Passage: Matthew 7:12

Topic: Christian Living

"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, ESV)

The Law: Ten commandments plus a multitude of other divine revelations which express God's will for the life and behavior of people.

The Prophets: Men who heard directly from God, who led and taught and warned God's people. There were many of these men who, year after year, generation after generation, spoke God's words to God's people. Great men like Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Samuel, whose stories are included in the Bible.

Jesus summed all that past knowledge and instruction up, all those experiences and the commandments into this one verse. We call it the Golden Rule: "Do unto others whatever you would like them to do to you."

It's not simple. It's not easy to do. When we've been hurt by a coworker, when a church member has lied about us, when a car cuts in front of us in traffic, in all those experiences, it takes Jesus living in us to react to "others" as we'd like them to treat us.

But that's what we're called to do.