my self portrait assignment for Project 52, which I failed to link up to on Friday but seems appropriate for today's post, since it is my "reflection" or "image" in the mirror
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
(Genesis 1:27)
Our sermon for this morning's church service was from James 2:1-13, titled Faith That Works & Prejudice. Whenever I hear the word prejudice, I tend to think of people who dislike someone because of the color of their skin. I would never think of myself as prejudiced, until Pastor pointed out that we all show partiality, because we are human and we are selfish.
He explained that prejudice is based on outward appearances and can be as simple as looking down on someone because they are from a different neighborhood or a different town from you. Or it could be showing favoritism towards someone who went to the same school as you and ignoring or thinking ill of someone who attended your rival school. Or what about age or gender? Do you think differently about someone simply because they are young or old, female or male?
We are all guilty of this, whether we recognize it or not. But, faith that works does not show prejudice or partiality. Faith that works recognizes that prejudice is a sin against the image bearers of God. God created us in His very own image and, in His eyes, we are all the same. God can choose to use any one of us for His glory, whether we are rich or poor, strong or weak. Because while man looks at the outward appearance, God sees the heart and that is what matters.
Linking up with Barbie of My Freshly Brewed Life for Fresh Brewed Sundays.
