If you're a parent, your advice to your children probably at some point whenever they were at someone's house was either to "treat this house like it is your own" or "leave it better than when you got there". 

This reminds me of a recent quote I saw from Marvin J. Ashton saying: 

“Be the one who nurtures and builds. Be the one who has an understanding and a forgiving heart one who looks for the best in people. Leave people better than you found them.”

This truly encapsulates a Christian mindset when it comes to our treatment of others not just because the golden rule commands us to "do unto others as you'd have them do unto you" (Matthew 7:12), but because it reveals that more often than not, you have to do for others what you wish others had done for you but didn’t. We go beyond what we feel we deserve and treat others graciously in our approach giving them beyond the expectation of what they feel they deserve when it comes to how we treat them.

I'm reminded of what Hebrews 10:24 says:

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.”


When life is tough, and the outcome looks bleak, we remember how He has never forgotten nor forsaken His creation. We are to look back and recount how we’ve been blessed, how we’ve been spared, how we’ve been shaped and molded. When you make an active effort to leave people or things better than before, you’ll find that God will shape you more and more into the image of His Son, Jesus. Be the reason that somebody believes in the goodness of God today.