Luke 6:31 English Standard Version (ESV) And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

Luke 6:31 Modern English Version (MEV) Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

The Modern English Version is the one we quote but it is not the one we learned.

What is at the core of the golden rule?

If it took you a moment to ponder that question, then I have succeeded in offering up my version of the golden rule core. “I wish people wouldn’t do that.”

At the core of the golden rule are the feelings we encounter because someone has treated us in a manner which is upsetting to us. I called this posting golden rules because there are multitude of behaviors which annoy us.

Which one bothers us at any particular moment is a matter of personal experience. As a writer I can only address the one at this moment that bothers me the most.

The reason I said I have succeeded with my version if you had to ponder my question is because recently I encountered another writer who asked a question and never came back to address any of the possible answers. It like being given a test and receiving a failing grade without being given the right answer.

“I wish people wouldn’t do that.” That is my answer and no one else’s. I don’t get to choose how others think or feel. We might have common experiences like being cut off in traffic, but that does not mean our response to the event are the same. The responses of that one event range from a non-verbal grunts to road rage and death on the highway.

This is my point for these golden rules. Wishing doesn’t make it so. We can only example right behavior and in doing that no one else will ever know why.

The Lord knows and He is the only one that really matters.