Your Favorite Shoes

Think about it. If your favorite ice cream is vanilla and you believe that to be true, then your brain will tell you that you enjoy even the lamest, worst-tasting scoop of vanilla. You receive comments from your favorite people very differently from those who are not, even if those comments aren’t accurate or helpful. Our unchecked brains are powerful justification devices for our belief systems. Our minds play favorites all the time, and we need to be sure to check that before it gets us into trouble.

You know who doesn’t show favoritism? God doesn’t.

"There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil-- for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good-- for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism." (Romans 2:9-11)

Our actions will speak for themselves, and the truth will always come out. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he reminds them that it doesn’t matter how powerful or stately they are, or how pious or legalistic. God will grade each paper on its own merits. It’s not the emblem on the hat, the color of the jersey, or the messenger that matters. It’s what’s in the mind, the state of the heart, and the message we should focus on. I guess He even lets Yankee fans into heaven if their hearts are right.

Guard against allowing favoritism to mislead you. 

You have been given a lot of bad advice by people you like. The world offers many different flavors. Just because you tell yourself you like vanilla doesn’t mean you shouldn’t taste a few others. Expand your inputs if you want to grow your output. And remember—just because you wear the T-shirt doesn’t mean you are on the team. The movement of your feet will determine your direction, not your favorite shoes.