Friday, October 14, 2011

how you relate shows how you love…

then james gives his primary reason for the problem with favoritism in chapter 2 verse 8 (niv), if you really keep the royal law found in scripture, “love your neighbor as yourself.” you’re doing right.  from this you see that favoritism is unloving

why is it called the royal law?  because if we obey that one we wouldn’t need all the rest.  galations 5.14 (niv), all the law is summed up in one sentence, “love your neighbor as yourself.”  if i play favorites i’m being unloving.

the bible says that how we relate to other people shows how much we really love GOD.  1 john 4.20 (niv), if anyone boasts, “i  love GOD,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar.  if he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love GOD he can't see?  how i relate to you proves how much i love GOD.  favoritism is unloving.

few of us know how to love unconditionally.  most of us are like this poem.

paul’s girl is rich and haughty
my girl is poor as clay
paul’s girl is young and pretty
mine looks like a bale of hay.
paul’s girl is smart and clever
my girl is dumb but good.
would i trade my girl for paul’s?
you bet i would!

we don't know how to love unconditionally.  all we know is how to show favoritism.

james 2.9&10 (niv), if you show favoritism you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.  for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

how many laws do you have to break to be a lawbreaker?  one.  how many crimes do you have to commit to become a criminal?  one.  how many links do you have to break to break a chain?  one

have you ever been in a china shop that has the sign, “you break it, you've bought it”?  they don’t care if it’s broken in one place or a thousand pieces, if you broke it, you bought it.

just a thought from the front porch

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