How would you finish that expression? As others do unto you? Or, as I remember learning in Bible College - as you would have others do unto you.
I remember my professor telling us how Jesus saying this in his time was ground shifting for those who heard it. He was the latter, speaking to a culture of the former. Do not worry, this is not about to be a sermon. I am not a preacher. Nor would I say I am a teacher.
The reason I share that story is because it left a permanent imprint on me and how I saw the world as well as my place in it.
I cannot sit here and say I have perfected this way of life. Certainly not. Yet it is something I continually strive for.
There is something freeing about thinking and acting this way. It can be freeing to know I just have to act as I want others to towards me. It does not matter how others treat me. There is freedom there.
There is also vulnerability.
We live in a society that is increasingly about self, the individual, as most important. Yet what if what makes us truly important is the impact we can have on the world around us? What if we looked inward first to then be able to look outwards.
Letting go of a need to treat others as they treat us, which is often how we want to react when we are hurt, feel slighted, or maligned, gives us more strength to be the person we are meant to be. If I treat you how I want you to treat me, I am in control of me. I am free to be the person I am and want to be.
If I treat you how I want you to treat me, I am being my best, for me, and it allows me to continue being my best for others.
Life is filled with hurts, loss, disappointments, sadness, and on and on. Yet it is also filled with joy, laughter, happiness, surprise, delight, and on and on. I know what I want to help create more of in the world around me. What about you?
I remember my professor telling us how Jesus saying this in his time was ground shifting for those who heard it. He was the latter, speaking to a culture of the former. Do not worry, this is not about to be a sermon. I am not a preacher. Nor would I say I am a teacher.
The reason I share that story is because it left a permanent imprint on me and how I saw the world as well as my place in it.
I cannot sit here and say I have perfected this way of life. Certainly not. Yet it is something I continually strive for.
There is something freeing about thinking and acting this way. It can be freeing to know I just have to act as I want others to towards me. It does not matter how others treat me. There is freedom there.
There is also vulnerability.
We live in a society that is increasingly about self, the individual, as most important. Yet what if what makes us truly important is the impact we can have on the world around us? What if we looked inward first to then be able to look outwards.
Letting go of a need to treat others as they treat us, which is often how we want to react when we are hurt, feel slighted, or maligned, gives us more strength to be the person we are meant to be. If I treat you how I want you to treat me, I am in control of me. I am free to be the person I am and want to be.
If I treat you how I want you to treat me, I am being my best, for me, and it allows me to continue being my best for others.
Life is filled with hurts, loss, disappointments, sadness, and on and on. Yet it is also filled with joy, laughter, happiness, surprise, delight, and on and on. I know what I want to help create more of in the world around me. What about you?
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