Treat Others Like You Want To Be Treated
Treat Others As You Want To Be Treated
“We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”
Romans 15:1
My grandmother used to always say this to my brother and I. Mostly because we would fight with each other and then run to her and tell on the other one. At eight years old, and as twins, we were horrible to raise. We physically fought, tore things up, argued with each other and in general, just raised hell against the world. And that was at eight.
That saying was a constant reminder of what we shouldn’t do and we used it against each other to incite discord.
As I read this morning the verse that Paul writes as Romans chapter 15 starts - reminded me of that from an opposite perspective. We are to uphold the weak in spite of our own needs and desires. We are not to live pleasing ourselves. I didn’t even live remotely close to this in my younger years, or my latter years. I was more concerned with my own needs, wants and desires than those of others.
When we look at what others need, not want - we see things in a different perspective. When we fill those needs we fill ourselves as well.
It’s difficult not to think of the things we want - not need. What we truly need and what we want - are selfish worlds apart.
My grandmother tried extremely hard to teach my brother and I to treat others the way we wanted to be treated. Along the way I held onto this value, added to it and took a lot away from it as well. I interacted with so many people during the course of two careers. I use to think I gave great advice, “right and wrong”, “be a good person”, etc.
It’s never about what we want. What we want isn’t important. The needs of others should always come first. Needs. Not wants.
I never spoke of God or Jesus in my past careers. I never spoke of the Bible or prayer. I never spoke of turning your life to Christ for help. I interacted with thousands of people. I always told people they had the power to change themselves - and nothing was further from the truth.
They can’t. And we can’t either. Not without God.
We can try and try and try - but we will always fail. We can try to treat others as we want to be treated - but we will always be sinners, who sin, and who sin against others. We will bill selfish and prideful people without God.
Our power lies in the hands of God. He gives us the ability to take care of others and to deny our selfish desires.
So when we are told to treat others like we want to be treated - maybe we should treat others as God would want us to treat them.
We are to glorify God. And the way we treat others should do this.
Have a blessed day.
“Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 15:2-6