If we are to be happy in life, it is important that we bring ourselves to accept fully and without question the supremacy of Divine law. The laws laid down in the Word are not mere suggestions to be accepted or rejected on personal whim. They are, rather, the laws of an infinitely loving and wise Father, who knows what will make us happy. If we break these laws, we inevitably bring unhappiness upon ourselves. When this happens, we have only ourselves to blame. The Lord does not say, “Do this or I will make you unhappy.” Rather, because He wills our happiness above all, He teaches us the laws of happiness. He tells us what will make us happy. When we disregard what He says, then the unhappiness, which inevitably follows eventually, directly results from our own pride and stubbornness. We have refused to do what will make us happy.
Divine laws are universal and eternal. They are always true, and they never fail. Indeed, essentially speaking, Divine laws can never be broken. Of course, the Word speaks of disobedience to Divine law. But to disobey this law, to ignore it, does not render the law ineffective. It still applies, and therefore, the fact that we have chosen to ignore it will have inevitable consequences.
It is in this way that we should view that Divine law commonly known as the Golden Rule, taught by the Lord in His Sermon on the Mount: “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 7:12). This, the Writings teach, is a law of heaven and thus of the church. It is a law of Divine order. And the law is this-‑that what you do to others will return upon yourself. When the Lord tells us to do to others what we would wish them to do to us, He is not simply telling us what He wants us to do. He is telling us a fact of spiritual life‑-and this is that what we do to others will be done to us.
This is a heavenly law. Heaven is happiness, and happiness in heaven comes from the fact that as we do good to others, we ourselves receive good, and happiness, within our hearts. This is what the Lord intends for all of us: wonderful, indescribable happiness, which results when we ourselves do good. This law is heaven itself.
It therefore follows that to reject this law is to reject heaven. To refuse good to others is to refuse good and happiness for ourselves. The law of heaven then becomes the law of misery. Evil intended for others inevitably turns back upon us. To hurt another person is to hurt yourself.
This is the origin of the lex talionis, the law of revenge, of the eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth, spoken of in the Old Testament. Under Israelitish law, a man was punished with the evil he intended for another. It sounds a harsh law, and indeed the Old Testament speaks of very harsh things indeed. Yet this law of revenge is an inevitable consequence of evil. The law of the spiritual world is that what you do will return upon you. When good is done, then this law is the law of heaven. When evil is done, then the same law applies, but it then becomes the government of hell, in which evil is meted out to the doer of evil.
It is important to realize that when we do what is evil, then we inevitably hurt ourselves. It is not the Lord who hurts us. We hurt ourselves. We ourselves have turned the law of heaven into the law of hell.
It is the Lord’s will that when you do good to others, when you look to their happiness, you yourself will receive even greater happiness. Do not forget that the Divine law cannot be broken. And the Divine law is that what you wish upon others will come true for yourself. Therefore, it is so foolish to wish misery upon others. If you burn against others, you will, quite simply, consume yourself. It is an inevitable consequence. If you step off a cliff, you will be injured or killed on the rocks below. If you wish harm upon others, then harm will come upon yourself. The Divine law will not have condemned you or hurt you. You will have hurt yourself!
The Divine law is for the sake of blessing. We receive back that which we do. And this truly is a wonderful thing. If we set our hearts on love and truth, and seek the genuine spiritual welfare of other people, then heaven itself will flow into our hearts and increase still further our love for what is right and what is true. There will then be no limit to the growth of heaven within our minds. There will be no limit, for in one sense, we do not receive what we do. We receive more. The blessings we receive from the Lord in fact far exceed the blessings we bring to others. To do good means to receive even greater good.
This is heaven‑‑a state of limitless blessing‑-in which there is no end to the good, the blessing, the happiness, the angels give one another‑‑for the more they give the more they receive. This is the Golden Rule, the law of heaven and earth, a law which can never fail, for it is the law of the Lord’s love. His love blesses and protects all who live according to the laws of happiness.
Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.