The Golden Rule

​When I was a child, I would watch Sesame Street with my sisters and I always remember a specific episode.  Oscar the Grouch was trying to learn to be nice to one of the other people on the show.  He heard the Golden Rule and decided that he was going to treat that other person the way he wanted to be treated.  Can you guess what happens?  He took a truckload of garbage and dumped it right onto the other person!  That’s not exactly what the Golden Rule means.  His heart was in the right place but he did not consider the other person’s likes and interests.  Silly Oscar!

​In church, I learned that God wants us to love everybody.  We are to show that love by giving respect; just like how we would want to be treated.  That is the same rule that Oscar the Grouch was learning, but this concept was more than just a child’s television show.  It was backed up with lessons and examples in the Bible that show we are to love our neighbor as our self.  Peter writes in his letter to Christians, “Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.” – 1 Peter 2:17

As I child, I understood the concept of respect but didn’t know the actual word for word meaning.  I thought that everybody understood what respect meant but, since working at New Beginnings, I realize how wrong I was!  Some of the mothers who come into New Beginnings, view respect as, “You aren’t giving me what I want, and therefore, you are not respecting me!”  My favorite false idea of respect is “I will respect you as long as you respect me and do as I want.”  The two play hand in hand.  I then realized just how blessed I was to have the strong Christian upbringing that I had along with the guidance of my parents who taught me to respect others. 

​So, what is respect?  In the dictionary it has a few different meanings but I found two that really seem to nail down the definition.  

​Respect: due regard for the feelings, wishes, rights, or traditions of others
               : agree to recognize and abide by rules or laws

​That is the letter of the law so to speak but that doesn’t cover it all.  In the Bible, God covers respect in a wider spectrum of Love, Honor, and Obedience.  God says in Leviticus 19:3 “Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths.  I am the Lord your God.”  He also tells us in Leviticus 19:32 “Sand up in the presence of the ages, show respect for the elderly and revere your God.  I am the Lord.”

​This is the love and respect we give the mothers who come to us looking for a new beginning.  We strive to help them accomplish their goals and grow closer to God through His Word.  We help teach them what God has to say about respect for not only others but for themselves.  I quickly found out that not everybody grew up being respected by others and therefore don’t know how to respect themselves as an adult.  Through daily instruction in God’s Word, we learn together the love that He has for us, and how He sent His Son to die for us.  What a blessed message to share with the mothers and their little ones!

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come to His people and redeemed them.
​– Luke 1:6

Christina Pritzlaff is married with two children. She has completed Early Childhood 1 & 2 classes, Infant Toddler classes, and completed the coursework for her Associates degree in Child Development. Christina splits her time between spending time with her family and working at New Beginnings. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her children, camping, fishing, reading, and doing counted cross-stitch.