Today’s reading: James 2:1-13
James calls us out in James 2 about harboring prejudices, particularly the prejudices we hold and act upon with regard to a person’s wealth or lack thereof. He point blank tells us that when we treat people differently based on how much money they have, the clothes they wear, the job they hold, their status in the community–it’s a sin. God doesn’t rank people according to their worth. He loves and values each of us equally, and He wants us to do the same.
I decided to read some commentary on this passage today, and one point in particular stood out to me. It described a way for us to deal with and overcome our prejudices. The commentary (by Matthew Henry, which you can find at BibleGateway.com) talked about doing some self-assessing by looking back and tracing our prejudiced feelings until we uncover those hidden and often deep-seated thoughts which accompany and support them. Once we do that, we can then take action to correct our wrong thinking.
All of us have prejudices, whether we realize it or not, and they do run deep. So my challenge for us (me and you) this week is do some self-assessing as we encounter people. Let’s be more aware of how we react or respond to people (especially people we meet for the first time) and ask ourselves, “Why did I come to the conclusion I did about that person?” If what we uncover is prejudiced thinking, then let’s ask God to forgive us and help us see them as He sees them and love them as He loves them. Tami
Source: Tami’s Blog
