Partiality Does Not Honor God
My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.
For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,
And if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,”
Have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? (James 2:1-4)
Man judges another by the outward appearance.
We judge others by their race, gender, age, looks, health, occupation, religion, background, abilities, preferences.
We have preconceived ideas, positive or negative, about others even before we get to know them.
We hold prejudices against those who are different from us.
We show favor to those we like.
We reject those we find offensive to us.
Such partiality does not honor God.
It is filled with evil thoughts.
God loves all the people of the world and is unwilling that any should perish in hell.
To demonstrate His love, He sent His only Son to die for us.
God is no respecter of persons.
He loves us unconditionally, freely, continually.
We must seek to understand and love others.
Enmity, strife, rivalries, dissensions, misunderstandings, bitterness, envy, jealousy, unforgiveness, divisions, quarrels, fights come from our sinful, carnal nature.
When we see others who are different from us, we must see them the way God sees them and love them the way God loves them.
We are all sinners before God. We need His love and grace.
So let’s stop judging others. Let’s love one another as Christ loves us.