Nix the Favorites

I have a slightly different take on this lesson, in that I think God *does* love us differently. We are not all loved in the same way. Yes, He loves us all infinitely, but that is the only way in which we are "equal". Each one of us is unique, with different purposes and different gifts. Envy creeps in when we focus too much on what others have and not enough on what God has given us, in terms of both gifts and duty. To paraphrase Aslan in the Narnia series, we get too wrapped up in other people's stories. We need to be concerned with our own story most of all.

I think we need to learn to be thankful for the way God makes every individual. We need to learn to see the strengths that He has designed into each one. I find it interesting that God knew what He wanted to create in individuals and renamed them so that, in part, they would have a new course and direction in life to live up to. We could use this example to identify strengths in those around us and set the ideal before them, helping them to achieve it.

I think I could learn a lot from this reading. I need to be reminded that boasting and arrogance isn't what people want to hear. This is one of my big problems and humility is what needs to be worked into my life. There are so many things that we are not good at or are insecure about that we tend to brag or boast about what we are good at and it causes jealousy .

Boy this is a hard one. I have seen so many grandparents, parents, uncles, and aunts show favortism. I have probably been guilty of this myself, especially to my nephews and nieces. I'm not a grandparent yet. I do have three boys with three different personalities. I have tried to be mindful not to play favorites and pray to God that i treat them all the same. I love them all the same, but I have had to discipline them diffirently because one is very strong willed, one is the opposite, and the other is a little of both. Playing favorites is never a good thing though as you can see from the passage above. I think being mindful of it and asking God for help in this area continously will help us not to show favortism.

in the script. jealousy shows its face because they were seein joseph in the flesh an not in the spiritual aspect of his dream. we guard against favortisim if we have faith an put god in everything. if i was joseph brothers i would be happy to know that god appoints him King

Is this passage really about why we should not show favoritism? Is it really about jealousy, and how to avoid it? Is God really against favoritism in all forms? Isn't it God who said, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." (Romans 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.)And the above scripture from Romans 9 is referring to a passage in the book of Malachi "2I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, 3And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness." (Malachi 1:2,3)

I think Joseph's brothers would have been jealous of him regardless of whether or not Jacob gave him preferential treatment. Yes, Joseph brought a bad report to Jacob of his brothers. From what we learn of their character, perhaps the bad report was simply the truth that needed telling. And then there were the dreams. Joseph had a special calling from the LORD. By telling his dreams to his brothers and his father, was he trying to rub that in their faces, or was he just a very young man (only 17, remember) who was trying to seek clarification about what these dreams meant? All we know for sure is that these dreams were from God, and so - of course - they accurately foretold the future. Notice that, even though his father rebuked him about the last dream, " . . . he kept the saying in mind." Jacob realized - at some level - that God was at work. And I think Joseph's brothers were really jealous of him because they saw God at work in his life, and because he was young man who was trying to live to please God, and they were not men who were trying to do the same. Joseph wouldn't have been able to make all those righteous, God - fearing choices in Egypt if Godly character had not already been formed in him by the time he was sold into captivity. In short, I think God showed favoritism to Joseph because he knew how he would respond in adverse situations; he knew that Joseph would bring him glory. I think Jacob showed favoritism to Joseph, because it was God's plan for him to do so. Joseph's root character did not suffer from that favoritism, but the favoritism Jacob showed him did serve to shine a light on the glaring character flaws of Joseph's brothers. That was a truth they all had to confront, and at the end of the story they do so, and find reconciliation as a result. Maybe we should say: "Viva la favoritism."

What was I reminded of by this passage: Jealousy lives in all of us, because we have a fallen nature. Favoritism is simply a means of helping us confront it, repent of it, and bring it under the blood of Jesus.

This story has always baffled me. I mean if my parents loved a sibling more than me I'd be hurt; on the other hand, if they loved me more than my siblings I'd be proud. Why did Jacob show favoritism that created and fostered jealousy?

It's sad how Jacob allowed favoritism to go on in his family and what it caused in his family. We are all guilty of failures in how we act.

This story has always troubled me. While, Joseph himself wasn't responsible for his father's feelings I find myself feeling sorry for Joseph's brothers. We all as individuals need to feel loved and we need to know that we are special. However, when we see ourselves receiving special treatment from an individual while others are mistreated or left out we need to confront the individual that is displaying this ugly sin of Favoritism. Favoritism hurts and we as believers need to make sure that we treat everyone fair and equal.

I agree with Ray. Jealousy can lead to problems, but it seems in Joseph's case that it led to trials that God had planned all along. Joseph was sharing his dreams and trying to figure out what God had planned. Another example of how what man means for 'bad', God means for good and He can work through us, even our sinful natures. We can't think like He thinks, so what seems strange to us may be completely logical to God. The humanity factor is hard to figure out.

How does a person handle misinterpretations by siblings, when one child is not given a colored coat but the other child thinks there is one?

These scriptures resonate with me. My children often accuse me of favoritism - they will each say that I favor the other. The older child has a naturally willful, risk-taking nature which leads him to flirt with sin often, while the younger has a natural servant nature - a goody-two-shoes.
The older requires more correction-in-love than the younger, hence the perception that the "younger is favored". The older is more charismatic and draws people in, including myself, which leads the younger to think, "you love him more." I love them both equally and differently and try to meet their individual needs uniquely, but I cannot prevent them having those erroneous perceptions and hating each other. A real problem in our family...

We guard against jealousy by recognizing that we are loved by God as individuals and by remembering that we are all not perfect. Each one of us has a special gift that God gave to us and it may have nothing to do with my other siblings, co workers or spouse. Our hearts need to be genuine when we share things and we should speak in truth. The truth can hurt but it can also can spark a change out of that hurt.