
It will never cease to amaze me that this simple rule is so hard to follow, but if you think about it, it really is not such a mystery.
Mat 19:19 ".... and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" is the clue to understanding why the Golden Rule is so hard to do, simply we do not love ourselves. We say we do but truthfully we don't.
Do you yell at yourself? Are you impatient with yourself? Do you get mad with yourself? I do. and that is how I treat others at times. Sometimes, the lack of self love hides behind elements of fear and pride. Pride says I am better than that, fear says maybe I am not. Self says I don't know. The problems in our lives stem from this kind of conflict with ourselves which is going on more often than we want to admit or indeed are aware of. These conflicts color our perspective of others and ourselves.
So how do we overcome such a miserable existence?
The beauty of being Christian and having God's written word is that there is not a single human problem that God has not identified and given a solution for. The Bible is the owners manual written by the creator for running the human machine.
The solution is Love God with all of your heart, soul, and mind (Matt 22:7). Get your eyes off of self, focus on God, His miracles, His Love ,His character, His strength, His wisdom. When we do this we see the value He places on us, and suddenly the pettiness of our inner and outer struggles seem insignificant. It humbles us and gives us a better perspective on life and other people.
If you follow the suggested inventory in "Ten Commandments a guide to Holiness", humility and an accurate self image begin to form, not because we are perfect, but because, Gods Law is. And now we can see how we fail to live up to His standard. That realization will bend our knees to the cross and seek His forgivness and in that forgivness we will be strengthened to do better. Then, being humble, the Holy Spirit can begin His work of molding us from the inside to BE better people.
Christians are not perfect, we fall short of God's Glory every day we are in our earthly shells, but we have the promise that someday we will be perfected and that we have the Holy Spirit within us that empowers us to do better than the day before, sometimes it seems those steps are mighty small but its the long run that counts.
The New book, "Yahweh The God Who Speaks and how to hear Him", is getting closer to completion and is about ready to go to press. You can get a sneak preview of it at : http://thegodwhospeaks.weebly.com/