How Do You Want To Be Treated?

Take this time to pray and thank God for having such unconditional love for you. Ask Him to show you how to treat others in that same way. Ask Him to give you the strength to be good.

Matthew 7:12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

I like how Jesus makes it so simple for us. He gives us really big concepts in very simple terms because He loves us and wants all of us to understand what He is saying. Today, He says to treat people the same way you want them to treat you. Take a minute to think about how you treat people, people in your family, your friends, strangers, people at your school, your teachers, people of authority, and just people in general. If these people treated you the same way you treat them, would you be happy and satisfied?

Now think about this question: How do you want people to treat you? Write out a small list in the margin or on a small piece of paper. Think about the reasons you want to be treated in that way. Hear me clearly about how you treat your friends. It doesn’t matter if you have a joking type friendship with them, still be aware of the hearts that are at stake when you joke around. Words are very powerful in life; they can make or break a person. You don’t want to be the person who breaks someone else because of the words you spoke. If you want people to listen when you speak, you need to listen when they speak. If you want others to be kind to you, you be kind to them. Personally, I like people to hear me, and be invested in my life and care about me deeply, so I choose to listen and care about others deeply and be invested in their lives. That doesn’t necessarily mean they will do the same for me, it just means that I am being faithful to God on my part. That’s all that matters.

Make a list of the people that you tend not to treat well. It can be the people closest to you in your life, or groups of people that you have a stereotypical view of, maybe teachers, or strangers.

Next to that list, write down a prayer to God asking Him to help you treat them the way you want to be treated. It starts now. Begin today making that decision to change your behavior toward them, even if they don’t change theirs toward you.

How does this change your life and the way you interact with these people?