When "They" Forget

Do you ever have one of those days or weeks, or even months, in which the folks you deal with forget "they" are dealing with royalty?  What do we do, when that happens?  I've pretty much run the gambit on reaction and response and I am here to testify today, a soft answer that requires no further discourse is, of course the best, as it turns away wrath.  I can also testify today, I don't always choose that, but I always regret when I don't.  I now have a confession to make that I really do think could get the better of me . . . I'm not opposed to receiving the silent treatment.  Way back when I was a new bride the seventh time around, Mr. B told me the worse thing I could ever do to him, was to give him the silent treatment.  He asked me to please never do that, it was just so hurtful.  Imagine my surprise when I soon experienced the silent treatment from him.  At first, I wanted to get angry, and did; knowing he was trying to be mean, but in time a light came on!

When people do what they don't like done to them, they are acting out of their own unhappiness or shortcomings, and not necessarily something the other person has done at all.  The opposite of "the Golden Rule" is the "Tarnished Brass Rule" and many people these days, live by that!   Rather than doing unto others what they'd like done to them, they do unto others, that which most offends them . . . It happens more often than we realize and the lesson I've learned in this, is clear.  I don't want to live by the "Tarnished Brass Rule" even when I'm dealing with someone who does.  The temptation is, of course, right there!  To yield to that temptation would be disobeying the words of Messiah, therefore; it would be sin . . . is sin, has been sin.

Surprisingly, most of the big religions have some form of the Golden Rule, and yet the world tends to operate by what I now call, the Tarnished Brass Rule.  The Tarnished Brass Rule is upheld entirely too much.  So many are determined to get even, seek vengeance, and make a point, while treating others as we'd like to be treated goes by the way side to make our point.  I've found myself in a strange situation just the past few days, and there have been a few times I've yielded to the temptation to operate by the Tarnished Brass Rule.
I've repented, asked forgiveness, then turned right around and behaved tarnished again!  What a struggle it's been, but I've also come to a realization.

The only way to remind myself and those who forget they are dealing with royalty, is to behave like the royalty that I am, and that means even when faced with the Tarnished Brass Rule, the Golden Rule is the rule of my King.