Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Luke 6:32, NIV

For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

Matthew 6:14-15, NAS 

I've was talking with a friend the other day about how it seems that everybody is at each other's throat. We see it everywhere - people just don't seem to have any courtesy towards one another. Simple disagreements over what are often petty differences of opinion are now being blown up into real conflicts. It's not enough for many people to just "agree to disagree" anymore. Now they have to rush to social media and let the world know how evil and stupid the other person is for daring to hold a contrary opinion.

I'm not sure exactly where it started, but we see these harsh attitudes everywhere. On "news" programs we will see the host interviewing two or more people with differing points of view. Then, like a five-year old on a playground, the interviewer proceeds to get the two guests going at one another. Or take a speaker who has been invited to a college campus. As soon as his name is announced, students and professors "google" the man's life to see whether he is politically correct in all aspects. If any stray word or phrase is found from their past that demonstrates a thought different from the college manifesto of currently approved ideas, then watch out! The students will march and protest and kick and scream like a toddler throwing a tantrum because they lost their pacifier. If there is one thing our institutes of higher learning will not tolerate in this "enlightened" era, it's a differing opinion!

What is going on? Why is it that our society deems such ill-behavior as acceptable? How do people have the nerve to say such harsh things to one another? Do they have no conscience anymore, or has it been seared to the point where they just don't notice it? Could they really have such little regard for their fellow man that they truly don't care if they hurt them? With all of the suicides and shooting sprees and everything else - not to mention the lawsuits - you would think that people would tone things down a little.

But it seems that the harshness in our modern-day world is just getting worse and worse. So, what is the solution?

The first and most obvious is this: We have to return to a standard of loving our neighbor as ourselves. Until we start having a regard and affection for each other, we can never do the next step - forgive them as you want God to forgive you. "But you don't know what they did to me" you will surely protest, and it is true that some people have been exceptionally mean to us in the past. Get over it! For if you do not, God will not forgive you. Jesus stated this as a fact nearly 2,000 years ago, and this truth has not changed. So go ahead and hold that grudge if you want to, but do not expect God's grace to be extended to you in the Judgment for such an openly defiant attitude concerning His commands.

On the other hand, if we are smart, we will indeed forgive them. And we will forgive them, if we truly love both they and God as we should.

This brings us to the final step - the one that seems so hard nowadays: Be nice! Stop saying the first poisonous thought that comes to mind and think of something constructive. Your Mom's advice on not saying anything if you don't have something good to say is a helpful rule to go by. And if you love the other person (you don't have to like them or what they are doing, but you still have to love them) then you will be able to think of something nice to say... or at least something that will not start World War III.

When we learn to be more loving and gracious to our fellow man, we will likely see that they will be more loving and gracious to us in return. If we would go out of our way to hold the door for someone, to help them carry a load they are struggling with, or to just have a sincere and thoughtful compliment to pass along, we will eventually see a return to kindness and decency. And this world in which we live needs such a return, for we are currently in a death spiral towards a type of hell on earth that none of us wants.

What do you think the world would be like if we just started being a little more thoughtful and courteous to one another? What do you think it will become if we do not? I don't know about everyone else, but I think love and forgiveness and kindness are worth a try - don't you?