James 2:1 – No favourites

“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.” James 2:1

Our faith is in the Lord of glory. And I think that is important for us to remember. Jesus is the Lord of glory. All glory belongs to Him alone. Often we live for our own glory, seeking to build up our fame and reputation, but all glory belongs to Christ alone. We should boast not in our own achievements but only in the cross. The spotlight does not belong to us but to Jesus. We are meant to spend our life pointing others to Him, not seeking attention for ourselves.

We are reminded to hold the faith. Holding is an active deed, it is not passive. If we want to be strong in our faith it will not happen by chance or without intentional effort. We must strive to hold the faith. We must take a tight grip, through time in the Word getting to know God better, through time mulling over the truths of Scripture, meditating on them, through times in worship, leaning in to the Father in praise, and through times in prayer, seeking the Father’s heart. We cannot expect attending church for an hour a week to be sufficient to hold us in faith. We need to take personal ownership and responsibility. No-one else can hold the faith for us. We each need to take a hold of it and grip on tightly for ourselves. This is for all of us as “brothers”, and it is important to note that that doesn’t exclude the sisters – in the original New Testament Greek brothers is an all inclusive term that doesn’t differentiate between males and females – a radical idea when it was first written as females were viewed as second class citizens. But the message of the Gospel is that Jesus is for everyone and we are all equal, for we are all equally in need of a Saviour. That is why we are to show no partiality or favouritism.