Perhaps we should rename the Golden Rule, and call it the Gilded Rule. What Jesus actually taught has been wrapped up and stored in the attic, while a poor substitute—which is “expect everybody to be comparatively decent”—has been plated with a flakey, golden looking substance, and placed on the mantel. And our workaround understanding of the Golden Rule looks like an old small town bowling league trophy from 1965.
But the real thing really is priceless. Treat others as you would be treated. Forgive others as you would be forgiven. Understand others as you would be understood. Interpret the words of others as you would have your words interpreted. Meditate on that for more than 30 seconds and it will take your breath away.
At the same time, do not veer into the opposite error, which is to think that a radical application of the Golden Rule requires us to interpret everyone and everything with a spirit of radical relativism. But some people really are objectively wrong, or petty, or malicious, or self-serving. If you were being petty and malicious, would you want everyone you knew to make endless excuses for you? Or would you want them to deal with you straight, like someone who actually loved you?
If someone has sinned, those who are spiritual should restore him (Gal. 6:1). They should watch their own hearts, but they should restore him. They should come to their brother as to their own soul—because they are.