Reflection on Mt 7:12
“Therefore, whatever you want others to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
Original sin programmed schizophrenia in the soul and therefore man uses a double measure. We are uncritical of ourselves and unwilling to admit or see manifestations of our egoism, but we are very sensitive about egoism of others, we criticize or even hate it. We have special demands – we want people to respect our will and to approve of everything we do, to see our problems, and even to guess what they should do for us without us humbling ourselves and asking them to do it for us, and if they do not act according to our ideas, we take offence. We want to profit from them, but if they want us to do a little favour for them, we do not want to oblige them but rather judge them that they exploit and manipulate us, or at least we make them feel how hard it was for us what we did for them and how very much they should appreciate us. But as for us, we are unable even to thank them for the good they have done for us, and we take it for granted. This is a sign of spiritual blindness and a mark of injustice which we fail to perceive in our intellectual stereotypes. It is the fruit of original sin. Jesus points to this root in us and gives us simple but very effective instructions; we only need to put them into practice.
Analogously, the following applies: “Whatever you do not want others to do to you, do not do to them.” We do not want others to hurt us, to steal or damage our possessions which we have obtained with effort, we do not want others to think or speak ill of us, to gossip about us, to do provocative things to us out of spite, to make fun of us in a humiliating way, to ignore us… We do not want all this, but we take it for granted that we can do this to others, and we even think we have the right to do so. It is really a sign of inborn spiritual blindness. But Jesus says that what we do not want others to do to us we must not do to them and what we want others to do to us we must do to them first. In fact, when we do good to others, we thus do good above all to ourselves because harmonious relationships when we help others and are not indifferent to their suffering or problems are a prerequisite for a happy life on earth. Nothing makes man more unhappy than remaining alone in his egoism. But if we keep God’s command, we usually get the reward already here on earth, and at the same time we put into practice the second greatest commandment “you shall love your neighbour as yourself” for which Jesus promises a reward in heaven too. So simple, very simple a principle, which needs to be taught from early childhood, should be promoted and applied in every family and in the whole society.
Modern psychological methods pose a great danger at present. They give instructions on how to arrange goodwill towards others with the purpose of manipulating, deceiving or even harming them in cold blood, driving them into addiction or exploiting them to the point of despair, only to achieve one’s own success. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between spirits and to perceive to whom we can do good or show good will in all sincerity, and to what extent, and to whom we cannot because it would backfire on us. In the Sermon on the Mount, which we now reflect on, Jesus also warns: “Do not cast your pearls before swine” (Mt 7:6). Contemporary American techniques and psychologies using phrases like human rights or elimination of discrimination promote abnormal egoism and injustice. They stir up hatred and war leading to self-destruction. Behind this system is the spirit of antichrist, lies and death. The principle given by Jesus brings peace and justice into relationships.
Let us practise daily for two weeks treating others at least in one case as we would like them to treat us. Young children can practise it too.
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