Look In the Mirror

Scripture: James 2:1-4, 8-9

1 My brothers and sisters, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. 2 For if someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor person dressed in filthy clothes also comes in, 3 if you look with favor on the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here in a good place,” and yet you say to the poor person, “Stand over there,” or “Sit here on the floor by my footstool,” 4 haven’t you made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

8 Indeed, if you fulfill the royal law prescribed in the Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. 9 If, however, you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

Reflection:
Pastors confess things too, so let’s start there. Sometimes the people closest to us get the easy answers, the extra minute, the benefit of the doubt. It feels like love, but when it quietly shuts others out, James calls it sin. That’s a hard word, and he means it.

Notice his example: two visitors walk into church, one wearing gold rings, one in shabby clothes, and they receive very different seats. Nobody planned it. It just happened. That’s how favoritism works. Today, don’t look at the person beside you. Look in the mirror. Ask God to show you who gets your warmest welcome and who gets your polite nod. Maybe it’s family, longtime members, someone who looks like you, or someone who can help you. You don’t have to fix everything today. Just let God show you what’s there. Honest seeing is always the first step toward real, lasting change.

Application Question: Whom do you naturally give your best attention, time, or patience, and who tends to get what’s left over?