The Golden Rule...The Right Back at Ya Rule!

While the girls and I were getting ready to get in the car the other day I heard much weeping and gnashing of teeth downstairs.  My girls are the best of friends - most of the time - but they fight as only sisters can - and they have mastered the art at the young ages of 4 and 6!  I am so proud!

I let them hash it out for a minute while I put the finishing touches on myself (Mom of the Year right here girls!), took a deep breath, and headed down to the chaos.

I was quickly informed that my older daughter had hit her sister - hard.  I looked at Izzy with a fierce look of disappointment and the Mother's "I Wonder Why in the World You Would Hit Your Sister" Look (you know the one), and asked her the most ridiculous question parents ask young children: "Why did you hit your sister?"

Her response, through tears and shouting (my husband is Italian and we both have some Irish in our blood...she can't help it)): "IT'S THE GOLDEN RULE!!!  I FOLLOWED THE GOLDEN RULE!!!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT???"  It's hard not to yell back.  I'm working on this...  "The Golden Rule says that you should treat others the way you want to be treated.  Do you want Cate to hit you?  That's what you're saying?"

"NO!!!  I was following the Golden Rule!  She hit me so I hit her back.  That's what she wanted."

Oh my... She got me on a technicality that I hadn't thought through...


And how often do we justify our actions with The Golden Rule?  I responded because they did it first.  I do it with the girls all the time.  You yell at me so you must want me to yell at you, right?

But that is NOT what Jesus taught us when he walked on this earth.  "Turn the other cheek" he said.  It's no longer "an eye for an eye" but instead "love your enemy".

"Baby, you can only be responsible for your actions and your reactions.  If you hit Cate when she hits you, then she will think you want to be hit (remember, 6 and 4).  But if you love her, if you ask her to stop, if you walk away, then she will see how you treat her, and she will know how you want to be treated."

Jesus could have said these very words to me, changing only the names to protect the innocent!  I am still a child and have much to learn.

We cannot change the way people treat us, but we can change how we react.  Be in control of your actions.  Practice Self-Control.  And LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!