This week I've been reading Matthew, and one passage that has really challenged me here is Matthew 7:12:

Matthew 7:12 (NIV)

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

In reading commentaries on this passage I found something interesting about the context in which Jesus delivered this command:

The negative way of stating this command was known long before Jesus. It had long been said, “You should not do to your neighbor what you would not want him to do to you.” But it is a significant advance for Jesus to put it in the positive, to say that we should do unto others what we want them to do unto us.

In so doing, Jesus makes the command much broader. It is the difference between not breaking traffic laws and in doing something positive like helping a stranded motorist. Under the negative form of the rule, the goats of Matthew 25:31-46 are found “not guilty.” Yet under the positive form of the Golden Rule – Jesus’ form – they are indeed found guilty.

This command that Jesus gives us must be significant if he also tells us that this statement is the summary of how to treat people according to the Law and the Prophets. This passage is one that is easy to read and gloss over, but to really understand the implications of this should result in a transformed view of our role as followers of Jesus. This passage raises the bar from a list of "what not to do", to endless possibilities of ways to serve and love those around us.

Take 5 minutes today to sit and reflect with a pen and piece of paper about what an ideal day would look like for you. How would others act toward you? How would they treat you? How would they speak to you? What would they do for you?

Got a good list? You now have in front of you a list of how Jesus calls us as his followers to treat everyone we come in contact with in our daily lives. If this is how you would like to be treated, then this is the way in which you are invited to partner with Jesus in your everyday life.

Challenging I know, but I can only imagine the possibilities if we as a community of believers were to take up this challenge in each of our lives. Behaviour like that is a light on a hill, and the salt that changes the flavour of our communities! Let's be that salt and that light.

Stay salty,

Stephen