The golden rule, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you", Matthew 7:12, is known as spiritual gift of rectitude, also as "imitation of God", it is the definition of the Good. It is the maximum ethical principle.
But which is the intrinsic meaning?
To understand the meaning and importance of the Golden Rule, let's look at an example in the Parable of the Good Samaritan:
"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by the other side. So too, a levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by the other side. But a samarithan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandage him wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them into the innkeeper. "Look after him" he said, "and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have" Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?", Luke 10:25-37
The good Samaritan acts according to the golden rule, the Pharisee and the Levite sin, that is, they pass by and leave. For that they act according to this rule, the "other matters", we go out in "help" of the neighbor. The golden rule means that for you "it is important, moves you and you are upset by the luck of the others", it means that you are "motivated" to change the luck of those who "cannot defend themselves". The golden rule (recitude) is a empatic rule, we act according to this rule why we place ourselves in the place of other. The empathy is a faculty of the spirit, a superior faculty of the mind, it is not a faculty of the soul like the simpathy. The golden rule is "the God's law in action", the Charity is rectitude, across it, the men act like brothers.
This ethical rule is the opposite thing to the egoism. For those who act after their own happiness, when the neighbor is a problem, the answer is: "am I going to worry for your life when I have to do mine?". Our neighbor, is under his own luck and the men stop acting like "brothers", so when the men toward their own happiness a disproportionate competition takes place for the resources and the man turns into "predator of its brother", this is the esence of the "sin". "We sin or we act according to the golden rule, the God's law". We choose, but let's remember, the law of the returns acts. For those that practice the sin only there is curse, that's why those who practice the sin complain.
Let's not complain if the things walk badly on a global scale, if there is no work and the banks confiscate the savings of the people. The golden rule matters for a few ones. Are you interested in this rule? Are you ready to change the world? Or are you going to keep the god´s law or you would complain that the things goes badly? You know already, the change depends of you.