THE GOLDEN RULE. (139)
1. To act with integrity and good faith was such a habit with Susan that
she had never before thought of examining the Golden Rule: "All things
whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." But
the longer she reflected upon it, the stronger was her conviction that she
did not always obey the precept; at length, she appealed to her mother for
its meaning.
2. "It implies," said her mother, "in the first place, a total destruction
of all selfishness: for a man who loves himself better than his neighbors,
can never do to others as he would have others do to him. We are bound not
only to do, but to feel, toward others as we would have others feel toward
us. Remember, it is much easier to reprove the sin of others than to
overcome temptation when it assails ourselves.
3. "A man may be perfectly honest and yet very selfish; but the command
implies something more than mere honesty; it requires charity as well as
integrity. The meaning of the command is fully explained in the parable of
the Good Samaritan. The Levite, who passed by the wounded man without
offering him assistance, may have been a man of great honesty; but he did
not do unto the poor stranger as he would have wished others to do unto
him.
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