Alex on #Favoritism

Who do you sit with during lunch? Who do you walk to classes with? Who do you invite to sleepover at your house or go to the movies or play Ping-Pong with you?
Since I go to a very small school, there's really only two groups of girls in my senior class. The first group is three popular girls who always hang out with the guys, dress a little more provocatively, and seem to have it all together. The second group is my group. We may not have boyfriends, but we pride ourselves in making good grades and not caring about what people wear or how people act.
Well... Most of the time.
See, there's this one girl who usually hangs out with us. She's incredibly smart, but she doesn't really have any people skills. She likes to think that she's always right and she takes control of group projects to make them her projects. It's frustrating.
My other friends and I sometimes try to ignore her. We talk about her idiosyncrasies behind her back. We'll find ways to pair up for group projects that exclude her.

But if my goal is to look more like Jesus, that's definitely not how Jesus would act. James 2:1 says, "My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism." James is saying that we should treat people fairly and friendly, reguardless of whether or not they wear expensive clothes, whether or not they are friendly.
Believe me, when God made us (every one of us), he called us good. So when we put other people down because of something they say or wear or do, we're hurting God's creation, something God called good. And if we try to "fit in" by changing our appearances or trying to do or say different things, we're hurting ourselves, which is also someone God has called good.


Alex W / Message Writer