Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:22 — 11.5MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | TuneIn | RSS
Many of us have shopped at Aldi’s and have been motivated to return our shopping carts to their place… for the incentive of getting our quarter back! Aldi’s, as well as other merchants, uses catchy phrases to show their dedication to their customers… “.the customer comes first!”, “you are our everything,” and that we should, “drive a little, save a lot!”
In Matthew 7:12, Jesus said a lot in a few words in a statement we call the Golden Rule! Is this a wise and pithy statement like other marketing slogans??? or is it an eternal truth?
Shopping carts are a real expense for supermarkets, with carts easily costing over $100 each, and an average Walmart needing 600 to 1000 of them to serve their customers. Getting carts back to where they are available for other patrons takes labor… and labor costs money! So, in reality, the Aldi’s quarter idea is a great one; especially for them!
Shoppers will return carts from across the parking lot to reclaim their quarter, who would hardly stoop to pick one off the ground!
The truth is, we are much more willing to do good if there is a benefit in it for us!
It’s also true that we are incredibly blessed people! We have roads, healthcare, wealth… Our heavenly Father loves us and told us so! We had nothing to do with having many of these things and should feel indebted to God and be willing to love and serve others!
What most people hear in the Golden Rule is to “be nice to others so they will be nice to you!” This actually is self-serving…
Jesus calls us to a much deeper level of care, to be a pipeline of His love… even if it’s not reciprocated! He wants us to act motivated by heart change… and without expecting a return for ourselves, like the Good Samaritan.
We should love like Jesus loved, and because He loved us.