Sermon on the Mount Sample

You’ve probably heard of the Golden Rule. This is one of the most famous teachings of Jesus to come out of the Sermon on the Mount. The Golden Rule says that you should treat other people the way you want to be treated.

This is a simple idea, but it can be more difficult than it sounds. If you want to be treated kindly, you should treat other people with kindness. If you want people to encourage you, you should encourage other people. The problem is that we don’t always feel like giving other people kindness or encouragement. It’s hard to treat others the way you want to be treated all the time, especially if they aren’t kind to you.

But if we’re going to follow Jesus’ teaching and example, that’s what we need to do. Someone once asked Jesus what was the most important thing they needed to do to obey God. “Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39)

A huge part of following Jesus is living in a way that focuses on these two things: loving God and loving people. In fact, the Bible teaches us that our love for God should help us love other people. If God loves them, we should love them, too.

Loving your neighbor as yourself is another way of saying the Golden Rule. In this verse, your neighbor isn’t just someone who lives close to you. Your neighbor is anyone you meet. People are important to God, and we want to love them as much as we love ourselves. We want to treat them the way we want to be treated.

Reflect: How do I treat others? Is the Golden Rule part of my daily life?

Read: Matthew 7:12; Matthew 22:34-40