"He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill." Psalm 113:7

How wonderful it is to know that no matter what our station in life or our financial status is God loves and cares about us. He is not a respecter of persons. He doesn't look at our bank account to determine our worth or value. We are valuable to Him whether we are an aged widow who gives her last mite or the wealthiest person on earth. God doesn't look at us the way we look at others. This is why we are admonished time and time again in the scriptures not to show favoritism. "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 are become judges of evil thoughts?" (James 2:1-4) James goes on to say, "But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors." (James 2:9) How sobering is that! If we show respect of persons then we are committing sin.

Why would He call it sin? Because you are breaking the royal law of love. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (James 2:8) Once Jesus was asked the question, "Who is my neighbor?" He defined it through the story of the Good Samaritan. Basically, the answer was- your neighbor is anyone you share the planet with. The next question, "How do we show love to our neighbor?" When they are in need, do whatever is in your power to help them. And do it without partiality. Don't help them only because they are poor or wealthy, share the same culture, have the same color skin, in the same age group, etc. Jesus used the characters that He did in His illustration because the Samaritans and Jews had no dealings with each other at all- they did not think very highly of each other. But the Samaritan was the one who stopped to help. The first two men would not stop and help, even though the one hurting was a fellow country man.

Jesus commanded His followers to love their neighbor as themselves, love those who are of the household of faith, and He even commanded us to love our enemies. And our love is not to be with partiality, favoritism or respect of persons. Why? Because it is not our love that we are to love them with, but His love that has been placed in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Have a great day. Do you show favoritism or love for all?

For further reading:
Matthew 5:44
Galatians 6:10
Luke 10:29-37

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
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