Life is definitely not always easy. It’s full of challenges, heartache, turmoil and difficulties, but it’s also full of happiness, fulfillment, peace and enjoyment. A person must live through some of the not-so-good or bad times to fully appreciate the good times. Have you ever felt overwhelmed or anxiety ridden or been haunted by sleepless nights? Conversely, have you ever felt peaceful, relaxed and rested? We’ve all lived and felt both. Usually, the quality of our life is directly related to the decisions we’ve made and the results or ramifications of those decisions.
I’ve personally lived through several poor decisions and the results they produced, asking myself how and why? Life is full of such poor decisions, and believe it not, we are all very much alike. It’s just that some folks make better decisions than others, some are more aggressive or conservative than others and sometimes we’re flat out in the right or wrong place at the right or wrong time. I’m sure you can relate to it all. I remember several years ago I had just bought a new Chevy SUV. It was nice and pretty, electric everything. I was in my third week of ownership when someone ran a red light and broadsided me, knocking me into a fire hydrant. So my brand-new SUV was all dented up on the passenger side from being hit and the front was all bashed in from hitting the fire hydrant. It was so damaged, it required towing. The car in front of me wasn’t hit or the car behind me—just me, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was banged up, bruised and frustrated. To add to my problems, the person who hit me didn’t have insurance. You talk about a bad day! It could have been a whole lot worse, though: what if pedestrians had been on the sidewalk when I jumped the curb and hit the hydrant? That could have been catastrophic, for them and for me. I asked myself, why me? One minute later, and I would have been spared this very painful, aggravating and expensive ordeal. Unfortunately, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It wasn’t my fault or the result of a poor decision—sometimes bad things just happen. Success, and sometimes survival, requires determination, dedication and perseverance.
As the 2016 Olympics came to conclusion and after spending many hours enjoying the many different events, I realized that out of 11,000 contestants only three athletes won medals in each event. However, all 11,000 contestants went through a weeding-out process in their individual country to qualify. They spent hours, days, months and years training. They traveled to compete with other athletes and were chosen based on their performance to represent their home country. It required physical and mental determination, dedication and perseverance year after year. They excelled in their field ahead of many competitors until they came out at the top, the best and the cream of the crop. They made it to the 2016 Olympics, which in my opinion makes them all winners!
Which reminds me of two Bible scriptures:
• John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
• Romans 10:9: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Regardless of your age, ethnicity, gender, failures or successes, if you read, say and believe these two scriptures, you are a winner! Where you will spend eternity can be determined in the next few moments based on your decision to either accept or reject Jesus Christ as your personal savior.
Anything and everything in life that has value, is good and has positive eternal consequences will take determination, dedication and perseverance.

I seriously wonder how many people today know what the Golden Rule is, and how many actually live by it? For all of you who may have forgotten this rule or never heard of it, the Golden Rule originated in a scripture found in the Bible, 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.” (New International Version)
If this rule were actually practiced can you imagine the difference it would make? Growing up, my parents consistently taught us to treat others as we would want to be treated. They called it the Golden Rule, but I didn’t understand where it came from until I was a young adult. It’s a good rule to pass on to your children and it’s a great rule to live by. The beautiful thing about it is you can apply it to your entire day, week, month . . . or life!
The Golden Rule—Matt. 7:12: “So in everything . . . EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING! . . . do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and Prophets.”
Stop and take a moment to think about how you like to be treated, how you like others to talk to you, when driving how you like other drivers to treat you, on the job how you like your co-workers to treat you. The list goes on and on.
Just the other day I was taking a walk in my subdivision and thinking about this very subject as I was getting ready to cross the street. I stopped and looked because I heard a vehicle approaching on my right behind me. The man driving stopped, giving me plenty of space, wearing a smile and motioning for me to cross in front of him. He definitely had the right of way; however, he was living by the Golden Rule, yielding to me so I wouldn’t have to stop. We all like to be treated with kindness, smiles and appreciation. We all like other drivers to use their signals, give us space and let us merge in front of them. We all like our coworkers to be nice, kind and helpful. We all love to receive gifts, cards, flowers, an appropriate thank you and smiles!
No one likes to be condemned, hear complaints or criticism. No one enjoys hearing verbal abuses, fabricated lies or long drawn-out stories about how wonderful someone thinks he or she is. Who enjoys being lied to or cheated or having something stolen from them? No one!
Our current society has become so self-centered, rude, mean and dangerous that if I weren’t living in it I wouldn’t believe it. But I’m not giving up! I believe in the power of prayer. I believe God can affect one woman and one man at a time, removing bitterness, hate and discontentment and filling them with love and compassion. Please don’t misunderstand me: the mean, wicked, mentally disturbed men and women who want to hurt others need to be dealt with swiftly, and removed from society to protect the innocent.
The Golden Rule is an awesome rule to teach and live by regardless of your age, gender, religion, race, sexual orientation or political views. Can you image how happy, safe and secure a family would be if all fathers and mothers lived by the Golden Rule? How wonderful would going to work be if all your co-workers practiced the Golden Rule every day? What if our representatives in local, state and national government lived by the Golden Rule? Do you think they would be doing things a little differently?
It’s time for the Golden Rule to be resurrected, taught and lived!