favoritism | Continually Seeking Him

My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.
For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
James 2:1-4 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jas.2.1-4.NASB1995

The rich and the poor have a common bond, The Lord is the maker of them all.
There is no partiality with God and God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
We do not know the heart of a person by their attire or stature in society. We are not to judge for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him.
We shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, nor judge according to appearance, but we are to judge our neighbor fairly with righteous judgment.
Proverbs 22:2/Romans 2:11/1 Samuel 16:7b/Romans 10:12/Leviticus 19:15/John 7:24/Proverbs 2:2 NASB1995

🌹Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding;
Proverbs 2:2 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/pro.2.2.NASB1995

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon
https://indasharonjesus.org

My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.
James 2:1 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jas.2.1.NASB1995

I’ll be honest. I struggled with the meaning of this verse. I was not satisfied with the commentaries I consulted and the different translations just confused me.

But God . . .

I understand that the interpretation of the Word of God should be viewed in the context, in this case, of the letter, but I kept coming back to a personal viewpoint. (Which I truly believe was guided by the Holy Spirit).

“Personal favoritism.” Was I looking at myself? Was I thinking I am something special because I belong to the Lord? I will confess that I am truly blessed and my Lord God is a very, very special part of my life but do I act as if I am above others because of all the blessings God has given me? Do I think and act as if I am one of His favorites? That would not be very humble of me. I needed to change my viewpoint, all of God’s children are His personal favorite.

For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.
Deuteronomy 10:17 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/deu.10.17.NASB1995

As God’s child we can feel pretty special but all are special in God’s sight. Jesus shed His blood for all people. He called me to walk with Him. I made a choice to follow. He does the rest. I’m still a flawed sinner saved by grace. There have been many, many people of faith who have done extraordinary service to and for the Lord but not without God enabling them.

🌹Look to Jesus . . .

. . . the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/heb.12.2.NASB1995

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon
https://indasharonjesus.org