The Sin of Favoritism

 There is one sin that is deeply imbedded in human nature. It is something that we, as Christians, must allow the Lord to remove from our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. It will take a concerted effort, but it is worth all of the effort to keep from displeasing God by committing this sin. What is it? It is the sin of favoritism. We hear it called a lot of things today. One of the main ways we refer to it is prejudice. Yes, it is easy for us to "pre-judge" other people because of how they look or some other characteristic like culture or religious background. We must break this habit by God's power. (James 2:8,9) James explained it for us by saying if we fulfill the royal law in the Scripture, which is to love our neighbor as ourselves, we are doing well. If, however, we show favoritism, we commit sin, and we are convicted of that sin by the law as transgressors. This is a very serious matter for us to address.

All sin is bad, and God hates it. There are some sins that have worse consequences than other sins, and those consequences make those sins especially serious. When we murder someone, the result is a loss of life that can't be brought back. That is much worse than being angry with someone without a cause, even though Jesus said that was the equivalent of murder, no one actually dies in that case. When we show favoritism, we break one of God's main commandments. It is dear to His heart, because God is love, so He loves everyone equally. Of course, we, as Christians, are to become like God and be good representatives for Him everywhere we go. If we show favoritism to any group of people and love them more than others, we give an incorrect picture of God's love to others. Also, the people we are prejudiced against are not going to want to know Jesus, because they will think God has something against them. So, I hope we can all see this truth and allow the Spirit to wipe favoritism from our hearts completely. The world will be a much better place if all believers will do this.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read James 3-5.