The Golden Rule

I attended church this morning and had a revelation (no pun intended). The pastor was speaking of the golden rule:

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Luke 6:31

He went on to explain that many times, we interpret it as "Don't do things unto others that you wouldn't want done unto you." Oh my gosh - he's right. So many times, that is exactly the way I've interpreted that verse. I can remember as a child saying something mean to my brothers and my parents scolded me by saying, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." And essentially, what they were saying is "If you don't want your brothers to say mean things to you, you shouldn't say mean things to them."

I'm 30 years old and just now realizing that God is commanding us to "DO" nice things unto others! Hello? You'd think that was absolutely clear. But for some reason, I just got it!

So . . .
DO say nice things to others.
DO love your neighbor.
DO make dinner for a friend.
DO take time to write a nice note to a friend.
DO forgive.
DO hold the door for someone in a public place.
DO say excuse me when walking in front of someone.

Random acts of kindness . . . it takes just a second. It's what we are commanded to do!