This morning I commented on the pretty shade of yellow my husband was
wearing, then added, “Good color on you too,” to which he immediately said
something, well, smarty. Now the thing is, he hates it when I do that! He does
NOT like for me to be dismissive of a compliment or give a negative response,
so I told him:
“Hey! Do
yourself what you want me to do!”
Beloved, we might be onto something here! As Christians, we’re
keenly aware of the biblical command: Do
unto others as you want others to do to/for/unto you. Even beyond that, Jesus
took the Golden Rule further by asking us to treat others The Way He
would treat them.
Jesus’ Platinum-Golden Rule can guide us deeply into
a Christ-centered life.
With Christ at the very core of our being, we need to be aware
that our Lord treated Himself with respect (John 8:49) and looked out for His
own well-being as needed. For example, I found these relevant scriptures from a
variety of translations on Bible Gateway, which I subsequently paraphrased:
They picked
up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid Himself in the crowd and left the
temple grounds, John 8:59.
At Jesus’
words, the people in the synagogue were filled with fury. They rose up, drove Him
out of the town, and led Him to the crest of the hill on which the town was built,
intending to toss Him down, but He passed through the midst of them and went on
His way,
Luke 4:28-30.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus sweated blood – literally –
over the mere thought of crucifixion. Three times, He pleaded with God the Father to
find another way, but when He knew the time had come to offer Himself as the
final blood-life sacrifice, He gave Himself over willingly – not to the demands
of people, but to the will of God.
Why? As the Son of God and the son of Mary, only Jesus had the
Personhood and power to become our Messiah and offer Himself in payment for our
sin. Only Jesus had – or could have – that particular mission in life. Only
Jesus had to endure crucifixion as the final offering for our sin.
Whether in
word or deed, however, crucifying ourselves accomplishes nothing godly or good.
Sadly, we might not even realize we’re doing this. I’m reminded,
for instance, of a friend who faithfully serves the Lord by selflessly serving others. Lately,
though, she’s been concerned about her own health yet admitted she’d made no
attempt to schedule the needed tests as soon as possible. I encouraged her to
do so, but before I got downright rude about telling her what to do, I asked, “What would you want me to do, if the situation
were reversed?” and she admitted she would give me the same advice.
We’re well aware that the Bible tells us to “Love our neighbors as
ourselves,” but we might need to consider what that means in practical terms. If,
for instance, we don’t take care of ourselves, how can we take care of others? If we’re unkind to ourselves, what chance do we have of
being genuinely kind to other? If we have no love or respect for ourselves, how can we possibly show that to anyone else?
In situations large or small, people often ask, “What would Jesus
do?” but let’s also ask:
What would
Jesus NEVER do?
Surely, Jesus would not willingly neglect Himself, abuse Himself, nor
put Himself down!
Surely, Jesus would not let Himself be trampled nor hurled over a
hill!
Surely our gracious Lord would not refuse a gift given in love –
even if it’s nothing more than a broken vial of perfume or a sacrificial word
of praise. Who knows? When Jesus appears in a bright yellow shirt of sunshine
and glory, He might like to hear, “Oh, Lord, that color is perfect on You!”
©2021, Mary Harwell Sayler
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