Loving as God Loves

Matthew 7:11-12 (ESV)

[11] If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

[12] “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

What do those two verses have to do with each other. Matthew 7:7-11 are talking about prayer and asking from God. Matthew 7:12 is about treating others as you would like to be treated. We often call that the Golden Rule. Many of our Bibles separate the two verses with a new heading, but here is the interesting thing, Matthew 7 begins with verses 1-10 talking about how to treat others. “Judge not” it begins, because “With the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you” (Mt 7:2). Sandwiched between not judging others because you will be judged and treat others as you would be treated are these verses on asking from the Father. What is the connection?

I believe the connection is that God expects us to treat others as we would be treated, not just because we will be treated similarly, but because that is how God treats us. God gives us what we do not deserve. God treats us graciously and loving like a father does a child. Our Father in Heaven “gives good things to those who ask him” (Mt 7:11). That is the ultimate foundation of how we are to treat others. Not simply because we are afraid of God’s judgment, but because God treats us as he would have us treat him. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is not just a good way to live, it is a way to live that actually reflects God. Our relationships with, and interactions with other people is grounded in our understand of God himself. God is saying in these first twelve verses of Matthew 7, “Do as I do.” Today, may we see others through the eyes of Jesus, and may we treat them with the love of the Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit.