OVERCOMING PARTIALITY (3 OF 10)
by Ryan Heller
Scripture: James 2:1-9
This content is part of a series.
Overcoming Partiality (3 of 10)
Series: Real Faith
Ryan Heller
James 2:1-9
All of us have an unpublished list of people that we don't like to be around. We wouldn't want anybody else to know what that list is. We might not even admit it to ourselves, but everywhere we turn, there are certain groups of people that we gravitate towards. There are other groups of people that we run from or we try to avoid. These distinctions are what the Bible calls partiality. It is showing favoritism to one group over another.
Maybe you grew up in a family where favoritism was taught. You were taught to be kind of suspicious or even to be afraid of people because they are different. This type of fear can lead us to show partiality. Maybe you've had experiences. It's easy for us to have one negative experience with an individual and then to make a generalization that everybody like them is exactly the same.
These things are difficult to overcome. In reality, this is hard with these things that have been ingrained into our minds and our thoughts. We've lived so long with these patterns of partiality. Really, what we need today is for the power of the gospel to transform us, the power of Christ to make us new and to change our mind and our attitudes because what we're talking about today is not just putting a Band-aid over a small little wound. Many of us today need heart surgery. We need God to radically change our minds, our attitudes, the way that we think, the way that we act. When we show partiality, the book of James says we are actually sinning. When we think about sin, a lot of times we think about things like murder and adultery, and stealing and embezzlement, all things like that. We don't think about the sin of partiality, yet, it is so important.
The scripture has some very pointed things to say to us today from James, chapter 2. Some prefer to be around rich people more than poor people. Others enjoy the company of poorer people over the wealthy. You may ...
Series: Real Faith
Ryan Heller
James 2:1-9
All of us have an unpublished list of people that we don't like to be around. We wouldn't want anybody else to know what that list is. We might not even admit it to ourselves, but everywhere we turn, there are certain groups of people that we gravitate towards. There are other groups of people that we run from or we try to avoid. These distinctions are what the Bible calls partiality. It is showing favoritism to one group over another.
Maybe you grew up in a family where favoritism was taught. You were taught to be kind of suspicious or even to be afraid of people because they are different. This type of fear can lead us to show partiality. Maybe you've had experiences. It's easy for us to have one negative experience with an individual and then to make a generalization that everybody like them is exactly the same.
These things are difficult to overcome. In reality, this is hard with these things that have been ingrained into our minds and our thoughts. We've lived so long with these patterns of partiality. Really, what we need today is for the power of the gospel to transform us, the power of Christ to make us new and to change our mind and our attitudes because what we're talking about today is not just putting a Band-aid over a small little wound. Many of us today need heart surgery. We need God to radically change our minds, our attitudes, the way that we think, the way that we act. When we show partiality, the book of James says we are actually sinning. When we think about sin, a lot of times we think about things like murder and adultery, and stealing and embezzlement, all things like that. We don't think about the sin of partiality, yet, it is so important.
The scripture has some very pointed things to say to us today from James, chapter 2. Some prefer to be around rich people more than poor people. Others enjoy the company of poorer people over the wealthy. You may ...
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