Who Are You?

Are you one way in public and then another in private? Do you treat some people different then others just because of there positions or status?

I can remember my friend being frustrated at the way that they were being treated as they saw that people looked on the outside and/or status to determine the love and/or level of respect that they would receive. People should treat others as they want to be treated and look out for one another. No amount of money should determine how someone is treated.

“My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives? ………Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.” James 2:1-4, 8-9 NLT

As I have grown in my career, I would intentionally introduce myself by letting people know what field I worked in as oppose to my title. At different times, I would sit at different tables for meetings without speaking too much. I would give a greeting to others and then just listen. Some people would speak and be friendly and others would ignore me and continue to speak with their co-workers. I remember one time that I sat at a table for longer than about 10 minutes when someone asked me what my position was. When I let them know that I was a supervisor, you could hear a pin drop and the whole table went quiet. They assumed that because of my outside appearance that I was not old enough to be a superior in the company so their language and behavior had a lower level of respect before they knew my title.

I encourage you to treat others better than you want to be treated. Don’t try to be like anyone else or discount a person because you don’t think that they are important. Everyone has a special purpose on this earth and knowing this helps you to treat people with a level of honor that causes others to be drawn to you and want to know the source of this behavior, this love, this God.

Do treat others the way that you would like to be treated?

M. Smitty 😇