We’ve turned over a new year and a new decade – 2020. I am praying and hoping that in “twenty-twenty” our nation begins to see more clearly. I am praying and hoping that we treat each other with more compassion, kindness and courtesy, that we drop the labeling and name calling, and that we put to death that hypercritical spirit that seems so pervasive and acceptable in our culture, our politics, our media.
I wonder what would happen to our society if we truly embraced those words of Jesus in Luke 6:31, “just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.” [NKJV]
Unfortunately, we seem to have lost touch with that Golden Rule. Instead our culture (and yes, even our contemporary Christianity) has produced an atmosphere where all we really care about is ourselves. I often think we see a perfect visual illustration of that in the current trend of “selfies” – taking pictures mainly of ourselves instead of others.
This behavior has produced a people who cloak their self-righteousness in a display of false humility. We express our “concern” for others in a way that doesn’t really care at all about other people but seeks only to build ourselves up in our own eyes.
Someone asked me if I was making any resolutions for this new year. I said, no. I seldom make resolutions because I am perfectly aware of my record at actually keeping them. But I think I just might make a resolution for the new decade – that I work to have more compassion for people, display more kindness and practice more courtesy. In other words, that I live out the Golden Rule in every area of my life.
