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Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn't God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? 
Aren't they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him?
But you dishonor the poor! 
Isn't it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
Aren't they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear?
James 2:5-7 NLT
This is the fifth time James has said "dear  brothers & sisters" in about one page of writing - what does that tell you?
James is not telling people what to do, but that we're all in this together, inviting us into ways of seeing and being.
And this is what he's doing here, asking his readers if we've got things upside down, around the wrong way in how we see people, how we value them. 
In James culture the rich must've been obvious (or made it obvious) and got honoured even though they were known to oppress the poor. 
There's honouring and dishonouring going on because of what's on the outside, not based on the life of faith on the inside.
And that's where we need to be careful, that in our age of carefully crafted social media and  what our culture names as success, we equate that with an inner life of faith.
When we hear eloquent words and equate that with a wise life. 
Dear brothers and sisters, let's take care to value and love people how Jesus did.
#James
#itsaheartthing
#inthistogether 

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