That’s Unfair!

Bible Reading: Luke 6:27-31

Treat [others] exactly as you would like them to treat you. Luke 6:31, Phillips

IT’S NOT ALWAYS easy to tell the difference between what’s fair and what’s unfair. Telling the difference can be difficult and confusing at times.

But take a look at the following quiz. Don’t worry about what you think would be fair or unfair. Just answer each question according to how you would like to be treated. Check one response for each question.

1. You’re the captain of one team, and your friend is the captain of the other team. Which way would you rather choose teams?

____ You and the other captain take turns choosing players.

____ The other captain picks everyone he wants, and you get whoever’s left.

2. You and two friends are bike riding when you get a flat tire about two miles from home. Which would you rather do?

____ All three of you walk your bikes home together.

____ Your two friends ride ahead while you walk your bike home alone.

3. You’re swimming at the community pool when a friend comes by without a swimming suit. Which would you want your friend to do?

____ Yell to the lifeguard, “Hey, I saw lightning!” which causes the lifeguard to make you and everyone else get out of the pool.

____ Say to you, “Hey, I’ll go back and get my swimsuit so we can both swim.”

4. Your friend’s mom bakes a prune and lima bean casserole for dinner and serves liver cookies for dessert. Which would you want your friend to do?

____ Invite you over for dinner without telling you what’s on the menu.

____ Tell you, “If I’m not at school tomorrow, call 9-1-1. I may be dead!”

Well, OK, none of those situations will probably ever happen to you, but you get the idea, right? Your choice in each case is pretty obvious, isn’t it? Why? Because it’s usually pretty easy to know how you want to be treated in a particular situation. That’s what the Bible says: “Do for others as you would like them to do for you” (Luke 6:31).

Guess what—that’s often all it takes to figure out what’s fair and what’s not fair. Usually the first step in treating someone fairly is to ask, How would I want to be treated? If you can answer that question, you can answer questions like “What would be fair?” and “What would be unfair?” a lot easier.

REFLECT: When was the last time you felt you were treated unfairly? What would have been fair? Can you recall a time when you were unfair? How would you have acted if you had treated the person the way you like to be treated?

PRAY: “God, when I’m tempted to be unfair to somebody, help me to remember to treat others exactly as I would want to be treated.”