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FAITH OR FAVORITISM?

My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim that you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people more than others? For instance, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in shabby clothes. If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, "You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor"—well, doesn't this discrimination show that you are guided by wrong motives? – James 2:1-4 (NLT)

            Someone has said, "Some go to church to close their eyes, and others go to eye the clothes." Unfortunately, this saying is often true. We are prone to base the level of our reception of others on the amount of income or influence they have. This is true in the world, and also true in the church.

            Yet when Jesus Christ rules our lives this type of discrimination must come to an end. For the Christian, worth is not based on a person's status but on the fact that they are an individual that Jesus gave His life for. To give a wealthy or influential person a favored position in the place we assemble to worship, or hidden in our hearts, is to negate our entire purpose for gathering. May our Lord teach us to look past the external and value the people that come into our midst as God Himself does.

PRAYER THOUGHT: Father, I choose faith and reject favoritism.