Bible In A Year | Read: James 2
1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? 8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. 12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:1-13
Overview of Chapter
James says one way of loving your neighbor as yourself is to not give preference to rich people. He also says something kind of scary by telling us if we violate any part of the law we are guilty of breaking all of it. People like to view certain sins as big and others as not so big. Of course there are bigger consequences for some sins, like prison or damage to your reputation, but God sees us as either sinful or righteous. Finally, he tells us our behavior should be consistent with what we believe. If I truly believe God is in control and loves us unconditionally, I would never want to do anything he doesn’t like. If I have no problem with doing wrong things, it calls my faith into question.
Not showing preference for rich or powerful people is hard. We want to be viewed favorably by those who can benefit us. It’s not so much that we need to think less of rich people, but more of poor people. We benefit from respecting them by pleasing God. It’s one of the ways our behavior can be consistent with our faith.
Thoughts on the verses
Do you know the expression “never judge a book by its cover?” It can be easy to give special attention to people who look a certain way or seem to “have it all.” Have you ever admired someone because they had on-trend clothes or the latest games?
On the flip side, it’s often the people who have the least that get treated badly. Have you ever seen someone at church or school who was made fun of because of how they look or because their family couldn’t afford to buy cool stuff or nice clothes?
In today’s passage, God tells us we shouldn’t judge someone by how they look or what they have, but instead treat everyone equally and with love. The Bible tells us that those who look poor by the standards of the world are actually rich if they have faith in Jesus. They have something more valuable than all the money or clothes or games in the world: they have a place as part of God’s family now and the promise of eternal life for the future. God is the one who judges, not us. Our job is to show love to others as He showed it to us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you that You loved me by sending Jesus to save me from my sin. Please help me to love everyone around me, too. I’m sorry for the times that I have treated others badly because of what they look like or what they do or don’t have. Please help me to be kind to them instead. Amen.
Action Step
What is God showing me? What am I going to do about it?
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