Once a boy named Mark learned a valuable lesson about his temper. He had been having differences with his neighbor friend, Tommy. The boys were 9 years old, and each one wanted to be sure that things were always going his way. As arguments escalated, Mark would say, “I hate you, I hate you.”
Although both parents tried to intervene with discipline, Mark had grown to be a very unhappy, angry man. Mark’s mother had an idea one day. She thought about the golden rule and planned a strategy to help Mark understand how to treat others. Mother asked Mark to join her for a walk. Together they enjoyed the day at a nearby park where a stream had cut a deep valley into the hillside. There, Mark’s mother asked him to yell as loud as he could and say “I hate you.”
When Mark yelled, an echo replied, “I hate you, I hate you.”
Startled mark looked at his mother with hurt on his face. Mark said, “Somebody out there doesn’t like me very well.”
Mother knew that her plan was working. When anger can be deflected in calmness, a valuable lesson can be learned. She then asked Mark to yell just as loud as he could and say, “I love you.”
When Mark heard the echo after his “I love you,” he gazed into his mother’s face and said, “It looks like I have made a friend.”
How should we treat other people? Read Luke chapter 6 and learn to “treat others just as you want to be treated.”
One day, Jesus led many people to a hill where He could speak to all of them. He told the crowd of people many things about the love of God. Jesus also taught several life lessons. One important lesson was instruction to treat others in the same way that they would want to be treated.
We call this lesson, The Golden Rule. In everything that we do, we should think of others, showing goodness and kindness.
This lesson of treating others as you would like to be treated was taught by Jesus and many parents. Maybe they know their children so well that they are aware of selfishness. This common ethic is a positive command to show love. Loving one another remains to be the commandment that enriches lives. It gives us a gift as good as gold!
Donna Avera is the founder of “KneeMail, sharing God’s love stories through print.” She is a Rincon resident and director of Children & Youth at Goshen UMC. Her email address is kneemail@windstream.net