Wisdom From Above is… Without Partiality

“But wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality…” (James 3:17 NKJV)

Without partiality means unwavering, undivided, unambiguous. It is being consistent, steady and unbiased; without favouritism. It is not influenced by personal opinions or external pressures.

God shows no partiality: Matthew 5:45, Acts 10:34-35, Romans 2:9-11, Ephesians 6:9, and Colossians 3:23-25

Note: Everyone (who reaches the age of understanding) has their lifetime to seek God and find Him (Acts 17:26-27); their gender, ethnicity, employment status, education, and monetary income do not matter – all can seek Him and find Him when they search for Him with all their heart (Jeremiah 29:13). No one will be barred from receiving His blessings when they do His commandments (Revelation 22:14).

    Earthly wisdom gives birth to envy and self-seeking – both of these will corrupt our hearts and make us partial. They lead us to do whatever it takes, including pushing down and pilfering others to promote and benefit ourselves; they taint our thinking and ability to reason and do good; they will convince us to see bribes as simply a means to an end – “You can have your cake and eat it too” – and they will keep our heads turned away from truth and justice.

“You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.” (Deuteronomy 16:19 NKJV)

    Envy and self-seeking will also keep our eye trained on what it does not/cannot have, it will sap our energies for the job at hand, leading us to be lacklustre and complaining in what we have to do because we’re saving our zeal for the job we want to do.  This earthly wisdom will also lead us to be false to people in our conduct as we mentally place them in a hierarchy of how they may benefit us: those who can give us something at the top; the rest of the list being only rungs in “the ladder of success” that we will readily step on to advance ourselves. With this carnal wisdom we will endure conversations with an insignificant person, but only until someone more interesting, more to our liking, comes along. We will become a pattern of rudely dropped conversations and become known as one who only gives half an ear to what is being said – because our attention is always on other people and other things. We will be so self-consumed there will be no effort made on our part to point people toward God and His word because we’ve convinced ourselves that ‘that’s for other people, not us. Isn’t the preacher paid to do that? We’ve got better things to do.’ These things ought not to be so.       

“If you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” (James 2:9 NKJV)

    Those without partiality are exhibiting wisdom that is from above. They will hear a matter and seek God’s guidance (asking for wisdom, James 1:5, using His word to discern good from evil, Hebrews 4:15); in doing this, they will not be afraid of the answer – or to give the answer – because it will be of God (Deuteronomy 1:17, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5). They will not look at external appearances, nor will they look at earthly measures or standards, they will see souls, and love each one of them as God loves them. Simply put, everyone they interact with and every effort they put their hand to will receive the very best that they can give - every time.

• We must not show partiality in judgment (Proverbs 18:13, 24:23-25, 28:21)
• We must not show partiality in our work ethic (Colossians 3:23, Titus 2:9-10, Ephesians 6:5-8, Philippians 2:14-16)
• We must not show partiality in who we greet or show kindness toward (Matthew 5:44-48, James 2:1-9, God already loves every person you may meet, show them the truth of that statement!)
• We must not show partiality in who we share the good news – the gospel – with (Luke 8:5-8, we are to be seed sowers not soil inspectors)  

    Showing favouritism and allowing our judgments to be biased – ex: changing our minds between one situation and the next because of the people involved – is a clear indication that our wisdom is earthly. Treating one job as though it’s beneath us, constantly complaining about it, and dragging our feet about accomplishing it, yet having the ability to give our whole heart to another effort because it is “more to our liking,” is another clear indication. Here are two more: Being friendly to only those who treat us well (or can benefit us), and keeping our bushel handy so we can cover up our light anytime we are around those we presume to be uninterested/unreceptive.

    God is consistent (Malachi 3:6a, Hebrews 13:8), His word is unchanging (Psalm 119:89, 1 Peter 1:23-25); let Him be your model and let His word be your guide so that you, too, can be without partiality!

You can do it! So can I!!