47 Days of Justice 2024 - Day 18: Perceived unfairness can be a temptation to “even the score.”

“Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe. But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭37:3-4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Fall of man not only put a separation between man and God, it also complicated the relationships among fellow human beings.

The introduction of sin was the catalyst for the “blame game.” That is to say, just as Adam blamed Eve for what he did, his offspring—of which we are all a part—begin to scrutinize each other, comparing themselves among themselves. This tendency toward comparisons and competition often leads to seeing life as a balance in which if one has something that another does not have, the one not having, feels “cheated” and may well use that feeling to legitimize abuse of others.

Additionally, sin also introduced the dynamic where people look to others to define them, to approve them. Bear in mind, that’s looking to another broken soul to tell you who you are.

Accepting Christ brings peace with God. But the fact is, it should also bring peace with our Christian brothers and sisters. Sadly, that is not the case in most of the Church world.

Indeed, James addresses this issue.

“What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.”

‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

James speaks of the sinful tendency to want what other people have, and becoming willing to do bad things to get it.

Now, we know that as we learn to trust in the Lord, looking to Him as the source of our sense of well-being, we will decrease our dependence on other human beings to supply our needs, ego, and otherwise.

Given, living in a fallen world, we know that what other people think, or what we think other people think about us, can have a marked influence on our sense of well-being and our behavior. It never feels “fair” when someone is preferred over you.

What we must see in the story of Joseph and his brothers is the fact that it was not Joseph‘s fault that his father preferred him over the others. But that fact didn’t lessen the brothers’ resentment towards Joseph. He became the “reason” for their unhappiness. And on top of that, now he’s gotten this wonderful coat that he is “showing off.”

Wait a minute. Are you kind of feeling a little angst towards Joseph yourself? Is so, why?

The fact is, we have all been there: Whether founded in reality, or founded in our own inner hurts, we have all faced times when we have felt shortchanged.

How in the world does all this tie in with a discussion of justice? Again, to understand justice and injustice, we must know the excuses the devil will weaponize to produce great injustices, even genocides and holocausts.

Friend, our responsibility is to love true justice—not our idea of justice—but God‘s idea of justice. Again, this is only possible within a context of knowing that His ways are perfect; and, in the end, all will be set right. Don’t allow any excuse to provoke you to be a part of injustice in any form. Feelings of resentment, left unchecked, can lead to terrible things. But what about Joseph’s brothers?

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!

#resolveforhim #47DaysOfJudgement