by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n
“As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them<\/em>” (Luke 6:31).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This does not <\/b>mean:<\/p>\n
Do unto others as they have done to you. This is not revenge permission. It is acting contrary to revenge, as you would never wish for someone to take revenge on you.<\/p>\n
Do to others what you wish to be done to you, but only when:<\/p>\n
\n
- you like them,<\/li>\n
- they are not your enemies,<\/li>\n
- they agree with you religiously or politically.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
The “golden rule” does not apply only sporadically based on our likes, dislikes, or agreements with others. Following Christ entails sacrificial service, self-denial, and treating others with kindness, mercy, and forgiveness. This does not give passes to sin. It does, however, follow Christ’s grace, give the benefit of any doubt, and seek the best on behalf of all.<\/p>\nWhy? Because every human is made in God’s image. Even in the way we speak of others, we demonstrate our commitment to the image of God in others: “With it<\/em> (the tongue) we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so<\/em>” (James 3:9-10).
\nTreat others, then, as you would have them treat you. Speak of others as you would have them speak of you. Be merciful, as you would have others be toward you.\nIn other words, love your neighbor as yourself.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Doy Moyer “As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them” (Luke 6:31). This does not mean: Do unto others as they have done to you. This is not revenge permission. It is acting contrary to revenge, as you would never wish for someone to take revenge on you. Do…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[65,1392,1513],"class_list":["post-86789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-love","tag-neighbors","tag-relationships"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92849,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/avenge-our-blood\/","url_meta":{"origin":86789,"position":0},"title":"Avenge Our Blood","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Hurst via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 19 No. 2, June 1993 Vengeance is a greatly misunderstood subject in the Bible. Our understanding of the word is described with words such as retaliate and punish. Most of us view it as an undesirable trait. We fight feelings that desire to see\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26782,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-is-war-different-from-acts-of-retaliation\/","url_meta":{"origin":86789,"position":1},"title":"How is war different from acts of retaliation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read \"Is there any biblical support for war?\"\u00a0 but I don't understand how it fits with\u00a0Matthew 5:38-42 and Luke 6:27-31. Answer: \"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' 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But what about having the intent to bring safety to the world, or revenge against what the terrorists have done, or someone who just wants to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37867,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-the-bible-say-about-suing-people-in-court-who-may-owe-you-money\/","url_meta":{"origin":86789,"position":3},"title":"What does the Bible say about suing people in court who may owe you money?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What does the Bible say about revenge? What does the Bible say about suing people in court who may owe you money? Would it matter how much it was? Would it matter if it was a significant other or a friend? Answer: If it was a matter of revenge,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58166,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/more-important-than-myself\/","url_meta":{"origin":86789,"position":4},"title":"More Important Than Myself","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Greg Litmer via\u00a0That Ye May Grow Thereby. If I can learn to truly regard others \"as more important\" than myself (Philippians 2:3), then I will have to take a giant step toward living day by day as a faithful child of God. I struggle with this concept in some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58152,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/more-about-those-strange-macedonians\/","url_meta":{"origin":86789,"position":5},"title":"More About Those “Strange” Macedonians","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 20, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bonds Stocks via The Preceptor, Vol. 2, No. 1, Nov. 1952. \"Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86789\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}