Luke 6:31 — the golden rule and the company it keeps
31And exactly as you would want people to treat you, treat them also the same.
The golden rule in its positive form. What makes it expensive is not the sentence but the neighbourhood: it is surrounded by instructions about enemies, not about friends.
Short answer
Luke 6:31 states the golden rule in its positive form: treat others as you would want to be treated. What makes it costly is the neighbourhood — the passage is about loving enemies, lending without expecting return, and doing good to people who hate you. It is not advice for getting along with friends.
- Written by
- Raphael Navarro Schmitt
- Reviewed by
- Maria Luisa Navarro Schmitt
- Published on
- Reading time
- 2 min read
The line belongs to the Sermon on the Plain, the version Luke records of the teaching Matthew places on a mountain.
The verses around it are among the hardest in the gospel: loving enemies, doing good to people who hate you, lending with no expectation of return. That is the company the rule keeps.
The wording is positive, and that changes the cost. A negative rule — do not do what you would not want done — can be kept by standing still. The positive one requires action, and it sets no limit on who qualifies.
The standard is also internal. You do not have to guess what the other person wants: you consult what you would want if you were on the other side. It is a simple measure to apply and uncomfortably easy to check.
The most honest use is as a question asked before replying. Before the curt email, the sarcastic message, the silence used as punishment: if I were on the other side, what would I want? The verse does not ask you to agree with the person, only to treat them as you would want to be treated while in the wrong.
Where this verse appears
The line belongs to the Sermon on the Plain, the version Luke records of the teaching Matthew places on a mountain.
The verses around it are among the hardest in the gospel: loving enemies, doing good to people who hate you, lending with no expectation of return. That is the company the rule keeps.
What it says
The wording is positive, and that changes the cost. A negative rule — do not do what you would not want done — can be kept by standing still. The positive one requires action, and it sets no limit on who qualifies.
The standard is also internal. You do not have to guess what the other person wants: you consult what you would want if you were on the other side. It is a simple measure to apply and uncomfortably easy to check.
What to do with it today
The most honest use is as a question asked before replying. Before the curt email, the sarcastic message, the silence used as punishment: if I were on the other side, what would I want? The verse does not ask you to agree with the person, only to treat them as you would want to be treated while in the wrong.
A prayer to carry with you
Lord, this is easy to say and hard to do. Remind me of the question before I reply, especially when I am the one in the right. Amen.