Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
Reflecting on James 2:1–9
As we enter the Christmas season, we are reminded of the greatest example of love and inclusion: God Himself coming into the world as a baby, born in a stable and announced first to shepherds, those often overlooked by society. Christmas reminds us that God does not measure worth by wealth, status, or appearance. This is the backdrop for a challenging question from James 2: When does having preferences cross the line into sinful favoritism? This week at Black Hills Cowboy Church, Pastor Isaac walked us through this passage and its call to love our neighbors as ourselves.
We all have favorites. Favorite foods, favorite colors, favorite people we naturally gravitate toward. That is normal and human. But James pushes us deeper. He shows us that favoritism becomes sin when it stops being loving, when it elevates one person at the expense of another, and when it closes a door that God wants to leave wide open. Favoritism becomes sin when it is no longer loving. We can like certain things or people more, but we are called to love everyone. At the center of it all is what James calls the “royal law”: Love your neighbor as yourself.
When Favoritism Gets in the Way of Love
James gives the church a vivid picture: a wealthy man in fine clothes walks into a gathering and is offered the best seat in the house. A poor man follows, and he is pushed to the side with the words, “Stand over there.” It is jarring and uncomfortable, and it exposes how quickly we can assign value to people based on what we see on the outside. God’s value system is nothing like ours. The world measures people by wealth, confidence, appearance, or social standing. God measures worth by faith, humility, and the condition of the heart. So when we show favoritism toward those who “look the part” and overlook those who do not, we are not just being unkind; we are contradicting God’s heart for His people.
Favoritism becomes a problem when it stops looking like love. Pastor Isaac explained that it is not wrong to have preferences, but when those preferences lead us to treat someone as less valuable, that is where the line is crossed. This is a practical reminder that holiness is not just a feeling or intention, but action rooted in love.
You Can’t Give What You Don’t Have
Pastor Isaac also pointed out that loving our neighbor starts with receiving God’s love ourselves. You cannot give what you have not taken in. When His love and esteem fill you first, it becomes much easier to extend that love to others. Many Christians feel uncomfortable with the idea of “loving yourself,” but Scripture does not treat it as selfish; it treats it as foundational. Loving yourself in a biblical way means receiving God’s love deeply enough that it anchors your identity. It means having honest self-awareness, recognizing your strengths and limitations without shame. It means practicing gratitude even when life is difficult, and caring for yourself as an act of stewardship, not self-indulgence. Before you exhale love toward others, you have to inhale God’s love for you. When you start your day knowing that your name is written in heaven, that Jesus loves you, and that you belong to Him, it changes the way you interact with every person around you.
Who Is My Neighbor Really?
Jesus was once asked this exact question, and His answer made it clear that our “neighbor” is whoever God places in front of us. That includes the people who are easy to love and the ones who stretch our patience. Loving your neighbor does not mean giving them everything they want or saying yes to everything they ask. God does not operate that way with us. Sometimes the most loving thing we can do is make a decision that brings temporary discomfort for long-term good. Real love requires wisdom, discernment, and humility.
When I think about what it looks like to “love your neighbor as yourself,” I think back to when we first moved here. There was a girl who worked at the ranch, and she went out of her way to be kind to me. She introduced me to people, hung out with me when I was lonely, and invited me to events so I did not feel like an outsider. That simple openness made such a difference. We are still friends today, and I value her willingness to love her neighbor (me) long before I felt like I belonged.
Maybe that is why the Christmas story hits us so personally. Jesus was born into a world that did not make room for Him, “no room in the inn.” Yet God keeps calling us to be the kind of people who make room for others, especially those who feel left out, unseen, or unsure of where they fit. My friend at the ranch did that for me, and it was a glimpse of the kind of welcome Christ Himself extends.
Open Doors, Don’t Close Them
One of the strongest takeaways from this week’s message is that when someone is taking steps toward God, our job is to make their path clearer, not harder. Favoritism slams doors. Love opens them. Favoritism does not just create social awkwardness; it can actually get in the way of the grace God wants to extend to people. When we favor some and distance ourselves from others, we unintentionally make the path to Jesus look narrower than it really is. Sinful favoritism makes someone’s path to God harder rather than easier, and that is the opposite of what Jesus calls us to do.
This kind of love, steady, patient, non-discriminatory love, is not a one-time decision. It is a lifetime of returning to God and asking, “Am I loving others the way I want to be loved? Am I giving the same grace I have been given?” As God keeps shaping our hearts, our capacity to love people without favoritism grows deeper, wider, and more Christ-like.
A Challenge for the Week
This week, try beginning your mornings by grounding yourself in God’s love. Remind yourself that your name is written in heaven, that Jesus loves you, and that you are a beloved child of God with value in His kingdom. When you live from that place, it becomes much easier to love the people around you, especially the ones who are harder to love. And as you move through your days, carry this question with you: Did favoritism get in the way of being the neighbor God wants me to be?
Final Thoughts
Favoritism is easy. Love takes intention. But the grace of Jesus empowers us to love beyond our natural limits. As we receive His love more deeply, we will find ourselves able to give it more freel, to open doors instead of closing them, to welcome instead of exclude, and to love our neighbors as ourselves just as Jesus taught.
As we enter the Christmas season, we are reminded of the greatest example of love and inclusion: God Himself coming into the world as a baby, born in a stable and announced first to shepherds, those often overlooked by society. Christmas reminds us that God does not measure worth by wealth, status, or appearance. This is the backdrop for a challenging question from James 2: When does having preferences cross the line into sinful favoritism? This week at Black Hills Cowboy Church, Pastor Isaac walked us through this passage and its call to love our neighbors as ourselves.
We all have favorites. Favorite foods, favorite colors, favorite people we naturally gravitate toward. That is normal and human. But James pushes us deeper. He shows us that favoritism becomes sin when it stops being loving, when it elevates one person at the expense of another, and when it closes a door that God wants to leave wide open. Favoritism becomes sin when it is no longer loving. We can like certain things or people more, but we are called to love everyone. At the center of it all is what James calls the “royal law”: Love your neighbor as yourself.
When Favoritism Gets in the Way of Love
James gives the church a vivid picture: a wealthy man in fine clothes walks into a gathering and is offered the best seat in the house. A poor man follows, and he is pushed to the side with the words, “Stand over there.” It is jarring and uncomfortable, and it exposes how quickly we can assign value to people based on what we see on the outside. God’s value system is nothing like ours. The world measures people by wealth, confidence, appearance, or social standing. God measures worth by faith, humility, and the condition of the heart. So when we show favoritism toward those who “look the part” and overlook those who do not, we are not just being unkind; we are contradicting God’s heart for His people.
Favoritism becomes a problem when it stops looking like love. Pastor Isaac explained that it is not wrong to have preferences, but when those preferences lead us to treat someone as less valuable, that is where the line is crossed. This is a practical reminder that holiness is not just a feeling or intention, but action rooted in love.
You Can’t Give What You Don’t Have
Pastor Isaac also pointed out that loving our neighbor starts with receiving God’s love ourselves. You cannot give what you have not taken in. When His love and esteem fill you first, it becomes much easier to extend that love to others. Many Christians feel uncomfortable with the idea of “loving yourself,” but Scripture does not treat it as selfish; it treats it as foundational. Loving yourself in a biblical way means receiving God’s love deeply enough that it anchors your identity. It means having honest self-awareness, recognizing your strengths and limitations without shame. It means practicing gratitude even when life is difficult, and caring for yourself as an act of stewardship, not self-indulgence. Before you exhale love toward others, you have to inhale God’s love for you. When you start your day knowing that your name is written in heaven, that Jesus loves you, and that you belong to Him, it changes the way you interact with every person around you.
Who Is My Neighbor Really?
Jesus was once asked this exact question, and His answer made it clear that our “neighbor” is whoever God places in front of us. That includes the people who are easy to love and the ones who stretch our patience. Loving your neighbor does not mean giving them everything they want or saying yes to everything they ask. God does not operate that way with us. Sometimes the most loving thing we can do is make a decision that brings temporary discomfort for long-term good. Real love requires wisdom, discernment, and humility.
When I think about what it looks like to “love your neighbor as yourself,” I think back to when we first moved here. There was a girl who worked at the ranch, and she went out of her way to be kind to me. She introduced me to people, hung out with me when I was lonely, and invited me to events so I did not feel like an outsider. That simple openness made such a difference. We are still friends today, and I value her willingness to love her neighbor (me) long before I felt like I belonged.
Maybe that is why the Christmas story hits us so personally. Jesus was born into a world that did not make room for Him, “no room in the inn.” Yet God keeps calling us to be the kind of people who make room for others, especially those who feel left out, unseen, or unsure of where they fit. My friend at the ranch did that for me, and it was a glimpse of the kind of welcome Christ Himself extends.
Open Doors, Don’t Close Them
One of the strongest takeaways from this week’s message is that when someone is taking steps toward God, our job is to make their path clearer, not harder. Favoritism slams doors. Love opens them. Favoritism does not just create social awkwardness; it can actually get in the way of the grace God wants to extend to people. When we favor some and distance ourselves from others, we unintentionally make the path to Jesus look narrower than it really is. Sinful favoritism makes someone’s path to God harder rather than easier, and that is the opposite of what Jesus calls us to do.
This kind of love, steady, patient, non-discriminatory love, is not a one-time decision. It is a lifetime of returning to God and asking, “Am I loving others the way I want to be loved? Am I giving the same grace I have been given?” As God keeps shaping our hearts, our capacity to love people without favoritism grows deeper, wider, and more Christ-like.
A Challenge for the Week
This week, try beginning your mornings by grounding yourself in God’s love. Remind yourself that your name is written in heaven, that Jesus loves you, and that you are a beloved child of God with value in His kingdom. When you live from that place, it becomes much easier to love the people around you, especially the ones who are harder to love. And as you move through your days, carry this question with you: Did favoritism get in the way of being the neighbor God wants me to be?
Final Thoughts
Favoritism is easy. Love takes intention. But the grace of Jesus empowers us to love beyond our natural limits. As we receive His love more deeply, we will find ourselves able to give it more freel, to open doors instead of closing them, to welcome instead of exclude, and to love our neighbors as ourselves just as Jesus taught.
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