For every cause, there is always an effect, for every sowing, there is a reaping.
These are the underlying principles of the golden rule which says “whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them…..” Matthew 7:12
In other words, you can determine how your boss will treat you by how you treat him. You can determine how your colleague will treat you by how you treat him or her.
You may say this is not your experience at work. You probably have done your best to align with the golden rule by being diligent at what you do, but it seems the golden rule is not playing out. Your boss is not giving you as much respect as you give him and he probably also does not reckon with all the effort you put into getting things done.
This is where most of us miss it.
The golden rule did not say whatever you want your boss to do to you, do unto him, it says whatever you want ‘men’.
In the spiritual realm there is no gender, so the word ‘men’ is used to refer to everybody. Here, the ‘men’ in the golden rule refers to everybody, including your domestic servants, the Okada man, the gateman, the bus driver, your boss, subordinate etc.
This rule is not seclusive where you treat the boss well and you treat badly other people who may not have as much privilege as you, and you expect to reap the reward.
We must therefore understand that the rule applies to everyone above, beneath or on the same level with you.
This is one place you need to check if it seems the golden rule is not playing our in your life – are you treating all men as you want them to treat you?
Preceding the verse of the Bible where the above quote was extracted were the teachings of Jesus Christ on men being evil, still endeavoring to give good gift.
He went further to say ‘how much more will our Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him (Matthew 7:11)
When the word ‘therefore’ is used, it usually means, based on the previous submission, we can then say or conclude or it follows that ……. Right?
Verse 12, which talks about the golden rule is a follow up on verse 11.
The inference we can deduce from here is that men being evil could be fickle, God is the one who activates the the reward or consequences that play out under the golden rule.
You may be loyal and dedicated to your boss but you don’t get a commensurate response from him/her, you should not worry about this because he didn’t set in motion the golden rule, God did. It is this same God that will reward you accordingly, not necessarily through your boss.
Our part is to do unto all men as we want men to do to us, without hypocrisy or discrimination. It is God’s part to make the reward come in the way He chooses. After all, it is God that said in His word that your service to that master should be as unto the Lord.
God bless you.
Akindele Afolabi
Christian Employee Series