February 15— The Golden Rule
Scripture: Matthew 7:12—- James 2:8; Romans 13:10; Gal 5:14

The Golden Rule sums up the whole ethic of Jesus: our calling as followers of Jesus, from
morning to night, is to do to others what you would have them do to you. Jesus tells us that
this sums up— it fulfills— the purpose and intention of the Law & Prophets. Jesus does not
abolish the law (5:17–20) but establishes it: loving God and loving others. But how do we we
do this well? Though it may seem odd, we actually need to listen to ourselves in order do unto
others well. All of us need things like food, water, shelter, and security. (Eg. Maslow’s Hierarchy)
But it goes deeper than that. We need love, friendship, care, hope, justice, and vision to
sustain us in life. As we begin to name what we personally need, Jesus then invites us to do
that to others. Which begs the question, are we actually doing that?