He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered. (Proverbs 21:13)

This is a restatement of the principle, what goes around comes around. We reap what we sow.

In general, people don’t treat us the way ‘we deserve to be treated’, as we so often think. That is a misunderstanding of how life works. Rather, we are treated the way we treat others.

How do you wish others would treat you, in your successes and failures and fears and times of great confidence? That my friend, is how you should then treat others, in a pay-it-forward kind of way. Sowing what you want to reap.

Getting even closer to God’s heart and words, we might say it this way – love others the way you personally wish to be loved. That is the second great command (Matthew 22:35-39). And God has so designed human beings that we will (usually) be rewarded in like manner.

If we choose to live a life of kindness and generosity, we will wake up one day and discover that we are living in a world surrounded (mostly) by people characterized by kindness and generosity.

The fruit, the outcome of living a life focused on and empowered by the Spirit of the Living God is that we become a bit more like him, characterized (to varying degrees, because we live in a sinful world) by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and faithfulness. And then after trying by faith to live that way for some period of time, we begin to find ourselves surrounded by people who are (also to varying degrees) characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness … (Galatians 5:22)

We are not usually treated the way we think we deserve to be treated, but rather the way we usually treat others.

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