Do Ye Even So To Them
President Nelson taught this many years ago: “[Jesus] taught the Golden Rule: ‘All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.’ This principle is found in nearly every major religion. Others such as Confucius and Aristotle have also taught it. After all, the gospel did not begin with the birth of the Babe in Bethlehem. It is everlasting. It was proclaimed in the beginning to Adam and Eve. Portions of the gospel have been preserved in many cultures. Even heathen mythologies have been enriched by fragments of truth from earlier dispensations. Wherever it is found and however it is expressed, the Golden Rule encompasses the moral code of the kingdom of God. It forbids interference by one with the rights of another. It is equally binding upon nations, associations, and individuals.” He further commented, “This concept of treating others as one would like to be treated is easy to understand.” Indeed, it is easy to explain this concept to children: they should treat their friends and their siblings like they would want to be treated. But how much harder it is to help them actually live it! In the laboratory of life at home, it is often very hard for them to share with their siblings, to let others go first, to think of the feelings of others before their own. How much contention and quarrelling would be avoided if each would seek to apply the timeless principle of the Golden Rule. They and we must learn to “put off the natural man” and “[yield] to the enticings of the Holy Spirit” which teaches us to be “submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love” in our relationships with others (Mosiah 3:19).
In Luke’s version of the Sermon
on the Mount, he recorded these words of the Savior: “And as ye would that men
should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” He then gave this beautiful
image of what happens to us as we do so: “Give, and it shall be given unto you;
good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men
give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be
measured to you again” (Luke 6:31,36). Ultimately as we choose to give
to others first instead of to ourselves, we shall find that we have received
far more than we gave in the first place. As we learn to love and serve others,
giving of ourselves, we will find that we have been filled with blessings from
Him that are “running over” because of His goodness to us. As we mete out in
generosity and kindness to others, those actions will inevitably come back to
bless our lives. I see this easily with my children—when they play together in
kindness and love, sharing their toys and enjoying each other’s company, they
are happy. But when they close themselves off and insist that something is
theirs and no one else can have it, they might get their way but they are grumpy
and find far less enjoyment with their coveted possession than when they have a
friend to share it with. And so it is with each of us. If we want a friend we
must be one; if we want to feel loved we must love; if we want others to be kind
and compassionate towards us we must follow the golden rule and do so first to
them.
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