FAIRNESS 5 - God is more than fair—He’s gracious.

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Devotional Thoughts about Matthew 19:27-20:16

“What do we get?” Peter’s question at the end of Chapter 19 is understandable. He and the other apostles had left everything to follow Jesus, unlike the rich young ruler who had just left disappointed because he wasn’t willing to do that.

Jesus’ answer was over the top: They’d be just heaped with possessions, relationships and honors plus eternal life. But even Jesus’ followers surely weren’t prepared for some of the differences awaiting them. This parable conveys that God’s idea of reward doesn’t match our subjective perceptions.

We don’t appreciate nearly enough the fact that God’s justice is tempered by grace, for every single one of us needs it. If God gave us what we deserved, none of us would be left (see Psalm 130:3).

Lord, thank you that I can count on your grace. Please help me trust You to do what’s right in me and in the world. 

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FAIRNESS 4 – When someone’s not being treated right, do something about it!

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Devotional Thoughts about Acts 6,1-7

Someone who trusted Christ for salvation in the early church period usually came from one of two backgrounds. He or she was either a Jew living in Judea and worshipping in the temple or a Jew who had grown up in one of the surrounding cultures in the Roman Empire. Their common language was Greek.

Then it came out that the widows—the vulnerable people in these distinct groups—were treated differently. As the gospel had quickly spread, transcending races and cultures, it was surely uncomfortable for the Jewish apostles, who were committed to taking care of their own, to expand the concept of “their own” to include those whom they’d been conditioned over the years to shun.

But when the problem was brought to their attention, they called a meeting of the many belie­vers to address it. Acts 4:37 gives the impression that the church’s charitable work had initially been done through the apostles, but by this time with all the growth, it had become way too much for them.

As their own priority was preaching and teaching God’s Word, they instructed the church to choose and dedicate seven men to take care of those needing help. As a result of this, yet more people came to faith in Christ.

Lord, please help me see where people are falling through the cracks and do what I can to help.

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FAIRNESS 3 - Treat everyone as important, not just rich people.

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Devotional Thoughts about James 2:1-9

As I’ve worked with groups of children over the years, I’ve been appalled now and then to see how cruel one can be to another. In their immaturity kids sometimes re­sort to crude methods to secure a place for themselves in the established hierarchy of their peers, and favoritism and exclusion are basic tools.

Although they’re resentful of teacher’s pets and others’ partiality, they scramble to wield the same weapon to jealously guard their own social assets in the precarious drama at school.

Of course adults show partiality, too, but usually with a veneer of sophistication. The truth is: we like some people more than we do others, and it shows. We act upon our preconceptions and sometimes even use them to manipulate others.

That God loves us all and is willing to accept anyone who comes to Him, is hard for us to grasp or truly believe because our sin nature is so grasping and self-centered.

Lord, please keep reminding me of Your “royal law” (James 2:8) and enable me to treat others as just as important as myself for Your glory. 

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FAIRNESS 2 - Everyone's important to God.

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Devotional Thoughts about Acts Chapter 10

So what’s the big deal about whether Peter was willing to eat the animals let down in the sheet? We need Old Testament knowledge to understand his persistent refusal. The animals he was shown were evidently among those forbidden as food for Jews in Leviticus Chapter 11. These dietary restrictions were and still are a huge part of Jewish identity and lifestyle.

Peter never did eat the animals, which were then removed, but they had served their purpose. Considering how slow Peter had been to understand what God wanted from him, he was remarkably quick to apply that tardy lesson to the next situation into which he was thrust.

He realized that God wanted him to revamp his categories of clean and unclean—not primarily in terms of animals but of people. In the Old Testament, God had forbidden Jews from intermarrying with surrounding peoples for the very real danger of idolatry, which happened plenty.

But especially for those who kept that command, hatred for non-Jews must have seemed the obvious and logical alternative. In this chapter, which is a major cog in the transitional book of Acts, God expected Peter to change his categories because He had made him clean and was in the process of doing the same for non-Jews.

Not being Jewish myself, I’m very thankful that the good news of the gospel is for me, too. Lord, please help me to treat others for what they are: people whom God loves and for whom Christ died.

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FAIRNESS 1 - Where there's favoritism, there's also envy.

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Devotional Thoughts about Favoritism in Jacob’s Family

When I think about the dynamics of this family, my first question is: Why did Jacob, who was hurt by his father’s favoritism, carry it on with his own kids?

The only answer I can come up with is that most of us instinctively follow patterns of behavior we learned in childhood— even those we’ve experienced as being nega­tive. Thus addictions tend to run in families over generations, and even rebellious kids end up more like their parents than they’d ever like to admit.

Of course there are kids who don’t do this, and Joseph is one of these exceptions. Before his abduction and exile, he may have been on a track to repeat his father’s and grandfather’s mistake, especially as he was the favored one. But after he was ripped out of a universe that had revolved around him, he had time without his family to reflect as well as a pressing need to trust God for survival.

Early on he was noted for how God’s presence in his life made him stand out (Genesis 39:3,21-23). At the reunion years later, his forgiveness and acceptance toward his brothers showed the maturity and character that God had forged in his life (45:4-12).

Lord, keep me seeking the nearness to You. Let others notice the difference You make in a person’s life.

Downloading lesson files

If you're interested in the lesson files, simply click on the appropriate link above to download them in the desired language. See the Informational Pages in the right column for more about the lesson series. The next post and the next lesson will be the second in the topic Fairness.