Playing Favorites

Playing favorites is always a bad thing; you can do great harm in seemingly harmless ways.

Proverbs 28:21 The Message

We all have favorite things, right? Coffee, restaurant, snack, favorite pair of jeans... no harm, no foul. But do we have favorite people? Does everyone around us know who they are? 

Playing favorites is never a good thing when it comes to people. Favoritism is always at the expense of others - whether at work or in the home. Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau carried down to the next generation, Joseph and his coat of many colors... All the doors that were opened in that family line to hatred, envy, deceitfulness, and pride. The truth is it's a sin. Yes, sin! 

James discusses it at length in chapter 2, beginning in verse 1 NLT, My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? Verse 9a, the same chapter declares, But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. Romans 2:11 tells us there is no favoritism with God. And we are to be like Him.

Prayer:

Father,

           Forgive us our sins of looking on the outward appearance of mankind and judging one better than the other, instead of seeing their hearts. Help us to undo any damage that may have been done along the way. Help us to see as You see and to love as You love. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen