The Golden Rule

“The way you treat others is what you do to me.”

“What?” I asked my then-three-year-old daughter.

“The way you treat others is what you do to me,” she repeated. What was she talking about? I wondered. Then a light bulb went off. I think she was trying to quote the Golden Rule to me in her three-year-old language. The day before, she had been less than righteous with her new puppy, Decem. Every time the little dog would nod off to sleep, she would grab her and manhandle the poor thing like a rag doll.

“Is that something you would want someone to do to you?” I asked her.

“No,” she said, head down, lip starting to quiver.

“Don't cry," I said. “Just listen. The Bible says to do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Luke 6:31). That means you should treat people and animals the way you would want to be treated. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mama, I'm sorry.”

I remember when I first learned the Golden Rule; my great-grandmother Helen taught me. My sister and I were at Grandmommy's house in St. Petersburg, Florida, waiting for our new sibling to be born. Our parents would return in a few days with our first baby brother, but at that moment, my sister and I sat close to my grandmother as she sang and read to us. She taught us songs, “make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other’s gold,” then she started talking about something called the Golden Rule. I knew about rules, but this was different: a golden rule. My little ears perked up.

My great-grandmother was the first Black librarian in St. Petersburg, Florida, a trailblazer. Once upon a time, Black people weren’t allowed to have their own libraries, but from 1950 to 1984, she helped make the James Weldon Johnson Library a place where everyone could come to grow and learn. I didn't know all that then; I was only three. I didn’t know she had started story times, tours, and film viewings that encouraged a love of reading and brought the community together. I didn't know she began what is now one of the largest African American literature collections in Florida, or that they would later dedicate a Quiet Room in the James Weldon Johnson Library to Helen Edith Allan Edwards. I didn't know she was as influential as she is; I definitely didn't know how much her words would shape my life. “Each one, teach one,” she said. And while I didn't know each one she taught as a librarian, teacher, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, or follower of Christ, my little three-year-old mind hung on to her every word.

The Israelites were repeatedly told throughout the Old Testament to teach their children. They were to pass down their knowledge of God, His Word, and His wonderful works so that each generation would know His goodness, be obedient and righteous, and learn to trust God for themselves (Deut. 6:6-9, 20-22, Ps. 78:5-8).

“Each one, teach one” and the Golden Rule are very similar. Think about it. Wouldn't you want someone to teach you something valuable? Someone taught my Grandmother Helen, and she taught my mother, who taught me and countless others. If only each one would teach others what they would want to learn. If only we would be the godly influence the LORD wants us to be in each other's lives. As believers, we should take that charge, fulfill that commission, go into the world, and share the news of Jesus Christ, the greatest gift given to mankind, because that's how we would want to be treated.

If you know something about Jesus, tell someone, anyone, especially a child. Knowing God and His Word is priceless and life-changing for generations to come.

"The way you treat others is what you do to me," I repeated back to my daughter, finally understanding what she meant.

"Yes, Mama, the Golden Rule."