Do to others as you would have them do to you. Luke 6:31

Do you demand others treat you better than you treat them?

Do you walk like a diva, demanding others serve you?

Or do you put others first, seeking their needs above your own?

Jesus wants us to do just that.

To serve others.

To put others before ourselves.

Think about Thanksgiving.

Were you among the first in line?

Save the best roll for yourself?

Or did you defer to your guests, thinking of them higher than yourself?

How about your home?

Did you help your guests feel welcome?

Or wished they had stayed somewhere else?

When family showed up for dinner, did you demand they remove their shoes?

Or did you welcome them however they came?

Jesus wants us to think of others before ourselves.

Not always easy, but it’s what He asks of us.

My husband’s precious parents are staying with us for a week.

It’s such an absolute treat.

Even if I’m sleeping in the basement.

My time with them is precious because they live hundreds of miles away.

Only see them them once a year.

Family is simply the best.

Seeing my adult children over Thanksgiving was a total joy.

Do you want their memory of you to be full of angst for the next holiday or anticipation for the next time they join you?

Choose Jesus.

Choose people over perfection.

Choose people over performance.

Choose relationship over deadlines.

Jesus invited people into relationship because that mattered over perfect homes.

As you review your plans this holiday season, ask yourself this question: how do you want to be treated?

And treat others how you want to be treated. As kings and queens.

Photos by Virginia Simionato and Gillian Lingard on Unsplash