Luke 6 Lesson

THE GOLDEN RULE

The Golden Rule is a commandment from God, taught by Jesus, which says that we are to:

• “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.” –Luke 6:31.

It is written to remind us that everyone is struggling with something and that everyone benefits from the love and kindness of others.

As we see others suffering, God wants us to be compassionate and merciful, not judgmental. 

The Golden Rule is fundamental to Christianity. If we want compassion and mercy for ourselves, we need to show compassion and mercy to others.  Too often, we seek mercy for ourselves and cast judgment on others.This is not how God wants us to live our lives.

When we see others suffering, we should recognize the opportunity that God has given us to show them mercy and compassion.  In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said:

• “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.” – Mathew 7:1-2.

This verse takes the Golden Rule one step further. It teaches us that not only are we to treat others the way that we are to be treated, but also that God will judge us in the same way that we judge others.

If we show compassion and mercy, we will be shown compassion and mercy. If, however, we are judgmental and critical of others, we should expect to be treated the same way by God.

BIBLE VERSES ABOUT NOT JUDGING OTHERS

There are many verses in the Bible that teach us not to judge others. For today’s lesson, we have selected the following three:

1. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.” - Luke 6:37,
2. “For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.” - James 2:13,
3. “Therefore you have no excuse, every one of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” - Romans 2:1.

THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF JESUS

In His Gospel, Luke shares with us the following example of how Jesus treated others with grace and mercy while He was on earth:

• “On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him. But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Get up and come forward!’ And he got up and came forward.And Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?’ After looking around at them all, He said to him, ‘Stretch out your hand!’ And he did so; and his hand was restored. But they themselves were filled with rage and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.” – Luke 6:6-11.

ACKNOWLEDGING OUR SINS

One of the ways that we can become less judgmental is by acknowledging that we are sinners. That is because all of us are sinners! (Romans 3:23,1 John 1:8) Left to our own devices, none of us would be found worthy to enter Heaven.  It is only through theredeemingblood of Jesus that our relationship with God is possible.

Consider the following three verses:

1. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” –  Romans 3:23-24,  
2. “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” – Titus 3:5,    
3. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” – Romans 5:8-11.

CONCLUSION

The Golden Rule teaches us to:

• “ Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.” –Luke 6:31.

Imagine how beautiful life on earth would be if we all lived by this command!

As Christians, we are to show others compassion and mercy, not judgment. The way that we treat others is the way that God will treat us.

We will end today’s lesson with the following two scriptures about being kind and loving others:

1. “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” - Ephesians 4:32,
2. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. ” - John 13:34-35.