The Golden Rule
We all know the golden rule: treat others the way you would have them treat you. We can recite it like a memorized line to our favorite song, but rarely do we stop to truly think about what it’s saying – seek out ways to love others, always.
I was at the gym the other day and had a sobering realization. I was next to a guy who was smaller and shorter than I was. I never spoke a word to him, never even made eye contact, but I noticed something in my spirit. Suddenly, I stuck my chest out a little farther and felt a surge of confident, self-righteousness coarse through my being.
I come from a family of tall, athletic males. There’s a long list of accomplished athletes in varying sports scattered on the family tree. The words were never said, but it always felt like the taller and stronger you were, the more confident and sure of yourself you ought to be – as if these were the only two qualities that determined success or manliness.
When it became clear I wouldn’t sprout up to the heights of some of the others in my family, it became a bit of an insecurity. It’s from this place I want to bring us back to the curious moment at the gym.
Insecurities are directly correlated to how we compare ourselves to other people. When we feel “less than,” we get insecure. When we feel “more than,” we get prideful. A smaller and shorter guy made me feel better about myself – why?
Well, I was treating this stranger exactly how I hoped other people would not treat me. We have no real control over something as trivial as how tall we grow to, and yet society has used it as a measuring stick. I couldn’t stand when people talked about how I wasn’t as tall as so-and-so because it made me feel “less than” and yet I feel “more than” when I’m next to someone shorter.
I realized I was treating people the exact opposite of how Jesus called us to when He said, “Do to others as you would like them to do to you” (Luke 6:31). He also said these words about Himself, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
I had to repent right there in the middle of the gym. Friend, what are your insecurities? What’s a thing or two you wish others wouldn’t do to you? This is vital to know, because not only are we susceptible to overreacting when others may treat us that way, but it’s also a clue into the we may treat others if we’re not careful.
Our pride can mask itself as insecurity. And neither pride nor insecurity loves other people well. We’ll either operate from a place of pompousness or defensiveness. God has called us to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). The next time you feel either pride or insecurity boil up in your spirit, stop, ask the Lord for wisdom as to what it is that’s inciting the feeling, and look to move in the opposite spirit to love others well.
