That’s not fair!

Some of the people — perhaps many — that you know are not fair.

The world isn’t fair.

Life often is not fair.

Yet God is always fair, perfectly just.

Now … how about you?

If you look closely, many who bemoan the unfairness and injustices of life often have a scale of justice they use that’s somewhat askew of proper measures …

Have you ever judged a book by its cover?

Ever made a snap judgment about someone based on how they looked?

Have you ever assumed something about someone after hearing they have a poor credit rating?

When you see the disheveled man at the stop light holding the sign asking for help, do you ever have a fleeting curiosity about him and substance abuse?

When you discover someone got divorced, do you immediately wonder what they did wrong?

When you hear about the teen in juvenile detention, how quickly do you question the quality of parenting provided?

How many opinions do you hold are made of something less than fact? How many are composed of something thinner than known truth?

If that last question makes you squirm, then you have to ask of yourself: just how fair are you?

“Well, I can only go off what I know,” is often the retort.

That’s not accurate.

None of us are forced to make a judgment, develop an opinion, or draw a conclusion on less than the truth. We can choose to NOT be unfair by trying to discern something about someone without having the facts. We can limit what decisions we must make to what we really do know. And we can choose to be as fair with others as we would want them — or God — to be with us.

Jesus’ admonition about this is simple and clear: “Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly,” John 7:24.

Scotty