Bible Briefs

J O H N   W.   M O O R E BEING SUCCESSFUL Recently while flying on board an airplane, I ran across an advertisement in one of the magazines provided by the airlines. The ad was for a life insurance company and had a photograph of a boy standing near a chalkboard with the handwritten phrase “Treat others the way you want to be treated”. The company who placed the advertisement had purported that the principle revealed in this slogan had helped to make their one hundred year old company what it is today. Indeed it is a great slogan to live by. I am certain that any company who follows that principle will have a higher likelihood of being successful. For that matter, any club, church, team, relationship, etc… will most certainly be successful and well thought of if this principle is genuinely applied. I wonder, however, if the company running the ad knew that the phrase came from the Bible? It was Jesus of Nazareth who said, “Do unto others what you would have them do unto you” (Matthew 7:12). Six hundred years earlier Confucius said, “Don’t do unto others what you don’t want them to do unto you.” While the phrases are similar, they are not the same. The former promotes and requires involvement, activity, and concern for our fellow man. The latter, while noteworthy, fails to have the same societal and familial impact. It is a message of inactivity. Jesus said, “Do unto others.” Like with so many things, Jesus has taken humanity to a higher level. Doing unto others what we want them to do unto us has made the world a better place. Reaching out to the needy, speaking a word of encouragement, holding the door for someone, visiting the infirmed, helping a neighbor, and comforting the bereaved are some things that most people would want done to them if they were needy, sick, infirmed, or bereaved. While these may seem obvious to most, the principle of doing unto others must also be carried into our homes, schools, and politics. Let us talk to each other with kindness. Let us give a listening ear to those with whom we disagree. Let us love our enemies and let us pray for those that persecute us (Matt. 5:44). If we are willing to do unto others what we would want them to do unto us, we can cause even our enemies to glorify God at the coming of His Son Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:12). If indeed this becomes our motto, in God’s eyes we will be successful, and His is the only approval that will ultimately count.