The Golden Rule

Ken Sande and Peacemaker Ministries has been a great blessing in my pastoral ministry through the years. I have read his book The Peacemaker several times and lead a previous church through his material who had experienced chronic conflict.

In chapter 6 of his book, this excerpt comes:

Perhaps the most common cause of conflict is our failure to follow the Golden Rule, which Jesus taught in Matthew 7:12: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." To see whether you have violated this teaching, ask yourself questions like these:

Would I want someone else to treat me the way I have been treating him?

How would I feel if I found out people were saying about me what I've said about her?

If our positions were reversed, how would I feel if he did what I have done?

If someone broke a contract for the same reasons I am using, would I feel that was right?

If I was an employee, how would I feel if I was treated the way I have treated her?

If I owned this business, woudl I want my employees to behave the way I am behaving?

Anytime you see that you would not want someone else to treat you the way you are presently treating others, you have fallen short of the standard Jesus established to govern all human relations. If you admit your failure to God and the person you have wronged, you can start moving down the road to forgiveness, agreement, and reconciliation.

Ken Sande, The Peacemaker, pages 124-125