Years ago, a man approached me after a Sunday morning service. He was concerned with something I had preached. He was a veteran pastor so his words carried extra weight. In the sermon, I said, “God has no favorites.” He was truly concerned because I think he felt he was one of God’s favorites and my words disrupted his reality. I shared what I knew from Scripture and lovingly sent him away to conduct a personal bible study on the subject.

God has no favorites among His children. He doesn’t play that game – we do. We play the favorite game because our pride feeds of the delicacies of that subtle deception. Several times in the New Testament this favorite-free reality about God is mentioned:

Galatians 2:6: “for God has no favorites”.

Ephesians 6:9: “he has no favorites”.

Colossians 3:25: “for God has no favorites”.

I Peter 1:17” “the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites”.

Why would God say this? He says this because He loves all His children equally – the obedient and disobedient alike.  Some are at home with the Father and prospering and others are still lingering in seasons of unbelief eating the pig slop of their rebellious decisions. These disconnected ones are all potential prodigals each one loved with the same affection as the ones who stayed home and faithfully served.

When we try to paint ourselves as one of God’s “favorites” we create unhealthy distinctions and barriers to the love of God. That kind of thinking releases a spirit of favoritism where our pride fuels a whole host of unrighteous thinking and activity. Favoritism creates a stratification of God’s love where certain people are always on the top of God’s love ladder and everyone else lives on a lower rung.

In one sense, you are God’s favorite and so is everyone else.  Each one of us is a favorite in His eyes and worthy of His love and attention. Today, you will meet a lot of God’s favorites. They are all over the place living under the single banner of His unbiased and unprejudiced love. Step under that shared banner and choose to see your brothers and sisters like God sees them. It will change how you view and value other people and it will radically change how you express God’s love.