Everyone has heard the “Golden Rule”, right? It’s easy to remember, because it gets straight to the point and rings true. But, as usual, there is more to the story than just that verse. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this famous verse directly follows the story Jesus tells in verses 9-11.
“You parents – if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.
Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:9-12)
You see, we treat our children well (at least, I hope this applies to all parents reading this!)… They are small representations of love that came from the union of man and wife. The “two shall become one flesh” spoken of in Genesis has a double-meaning here – the man and woman become one in spirit through the union of marriage, and if God blesses them with child, the two become one in the flesh of their child.
We treat our children well, because we love them as our own. The Father treats us better because He loves us as His own with a love that we can never achieve. When Jesus teaches us the Golden Rule to treat others as we want to be treated, he does so as a follow-up. If I can take some liberty and paraphrase this idea:
“Showing how you treat your children shows in a small way how your Father looks at you; so recognizing this blessing, go treat others as you wish to be treated without consideration of ‘what they deserve’. Do this in gratitude for how well you are being treated by your Heavenly Father, without regard to what you deserve.”