Jesus said, “So in everything do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”   Matthew 7:12
There was a time where I understood the Golden Rule to be a rule of reciprocity, where I would do exactly to others what I wanted them to do to me. But then I gradually came to understand that following the Golden Rule by literally responding to people in the way I had wanted them to treat me, did not take into consideration the uniqueness of each person and their felt needs.
On further examination I came to see that Jesus didn’t treat all people the same; neither did He treat them the way they treated Him. He related to impulsive Peter differently to the way He related to doubting Thomas. He didn’t have a “one size fits all” in the way He spoke to people and responded to people.
So what did Jesus mean when he said, “So in everything do to others what you would have them do to you…”?
Gradually I have grown to understand that the Golden Rule means that I treat others in the way I would want them to treat me; with sensitivity and understanding of the unique person God created each of them to be.
Many years ago I bought my brother a Christmas present of some recorded music (a cassette) of my favourite singer. It wasn’t his kind of music and so he immediately gave my present back to me, for which I was quite pleased. In retrospect, I now see that I failed to treat my brother with sensitivity to his unique musical tastes.
I am now wiser and more understanding and am more convinced of the importance of the Golden Rule that Jesus taught. I have a wife and two daughters with different personalities, different careers, different interests, different tastes, different struggles and different body language. They are….different, and desire to be treated with respect according to the unique person that each of them are.
Some guidelines I have accumulated for the important task of living out the Golden Rule include:

• Work at becoming a student of understanding people and the Golden Rule.
• Read a good book on Emotional Intelligence (Try The New Leader by Daniel Goleman).
• Value each person as a unique, never to be repeated creation of God, so much so that God gave them a unique fingerprint and heartbeat.
• Give special consideration as to how you can add value to each person when you meet them.
• Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
• Practice the art of sensitive listening.
• Ask relevant questions.
• Follow up on the conversation where there is some need or interest you can contribute to.

I’m thankful to Jesus for introducing me to the Golden Rule and for modelling the way it should be lived out. I commend Him and His life teaching to you.