Devotionals

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Respect of Persons
We’ve all seen instances of favoritism. One I remember well is in a neighborhood I used to live in. The alderman lived nearby. When it snowed the city would always plow the street in front of his house and the rest of the streets were left un-plowed.
My paternal grandfather was a pipe fitter on the railroad. He was a Christian man. Occasionally parties would be held at work. The men would get boozed up. Grandpa would not attend these parties. When it came time to receive a raise, only those that attended the party would receive the raise. He always got bypassed for the raise.
Scripture addresses this issue.
James 2:1-9 states: My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and have become judges of evil thoughts?
Harken my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs or the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by which ye are called?
If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself, ye do well:
But if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin, and are convince of the laws as transgressors.
In Genesis 27:11-17, we read about Rebekah and Isaac. They had two sons, Jacob the younger twin and Esau the older twin. Rebekah favored Jacob, while Isaac favored Esau.. This caused dissension, jealousy and many troubles. Rebekah arranged to have Jacob pretend to be his brother Esau to receive the blessing. In those times, the eldest son would receive a blessing from his father, which included certain privileges. Isaac was almost blind, so Rebekah schemed so Jacob would receive the blessing that should have gone to his brother Esau. He dressed up as if he were Esau and received the blessing, instead of his brother. Then we find in Genesis 37:4, 11, 18-28, Jacob doing the very same thing with his son Joseph. He favored his son Joseph over the other sons. We all know the story of how Joseph was mistreated by his jealous brothers and sold into slavery. However, through it all, God was with Joseph for he walked with God and was a Godly man.
The scriptures teach in Luke 6:31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
Perhaps if we tried to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes we would include instead of exclude and love each other. All who believe in Jesus as their personal Savior are members of Christ’s body. Some are a foot, some an eye, some an ear, etc 1 Corinthians 12:12-25. We are the ekklesia [ the Greek word for church], a calling out, a community of believers, assembly. Seeing how this is the case, we should try to love the other members of Christ’s body. James admonishes his audience to love their neighbor as they love themselves. Love instead of showing favoritism to only certain people.
Prayer: Lord, help us to love each member of your body as we love ourselves. Help us not to show favoritism. In Jesus name, Amen
copyright 2010 zorrine bailey

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