Read: Genesis 37: 1-4

Reflect:
We are not told why Joseph gave a bad report to his father.  Was Joseph standing up for what was right or just being a tattletale?  No details are given but this just fueled the fires of jealousy that were already aflame due to Jacob’s favoritism of Joseph.  The colourful fancy jacket didn’t help much either!  If you know the back story, this seemed to be a deeply entrenched sin in Jacob’s family.  His mother, Rebekah, had loved Jacob best while his father Isaac had loved Esau more.  Jacob favoured Rachel over Leah.  Joseph was the oldest son of Jacob’s favored wife, Rachel, who had died giving birth to Benjamin. We might wonder how Jacob could favor one son over the others, but family patterns and sinful habits are difficult to change.

Favoritism is out of place with God’s character. Romans 2:11 says “God does not show favouritism.”  And the book of James instructs believers regarding favoritism: “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.”  When you read about the early church, even those closest to Jesus struggled with bias against people different from them.  Are you like me, and sometimes form judgements based on selfish, personal criteria rather than seeing others as God sees them?  May God give us vision to see people as God does, created in his image. If they are valuable and precious to Him then they should be valuable and precious to us.

Pray:
Think about people who are hard to love and ask God to help you see them as image bearers of God and give you a heart to love them as He loves them.