What a happy world would this be!

(John MacDuff, "THE PRECEPTS OF JESUS" 1858)

"Do unto others — what you would like them to do unto you!" Matthew 6:12

What a happy world would this be if the above command, or the parallel one of, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," were universally acted upon!

There would be then no wars, no antipathies, no rivalries among nations. There would be no jealousies or bitter contentions among neighbors and families. There would be no haughtiness or oppression in the rich — and no envy or discontent in the poor. No heart would burn with anger, no breast rankle with revenge. Every species of violence, fraud, deceit, and treachery would be forever abolished!

Such would be the effects produced — were this precept embodied in the hearts and lives of men.

Let us guard, then, against every violation of this simple but sublime law. Let us seek, especially, to mortify that selfishness to which we are so prone; and, after the example of the Great Master, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus!"