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WHO SAID LIFE IS SUPPOSED TO BE FAIR? By Matt Foster
I have always hated it when I was done some injustice or pointed out one that was done only to have someone reply back “Well who said life is supposed to be fair?” Do we really think that such statements will justify us in dealing unfairly with others? Who said life is supposed to be fair, you ask? God did! Here is one example, “Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God” (Deut. 25:13-16). Fair is defined as just & honest, according to that which is right. Yes, many times things in life are not fair, but that does not mean it is pleasing to God. God wants us always to deal fairly with others. If everyone would follow God’s teaching, life would be fair.
God is fair in his dealing with us, even though man is not. Note Deut. 32:4-5, “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation”. Some tell us though a just God would not send someone to hell. Nothing could be further from the truth. God has not only been fair with man but has been more than fair. God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son to die on the cross to save us from our sins. How then can we say He is unfair or unjust? Consider 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” Do you really think God is unjust when He gives us what we deserve (Rom. 6:23) for breaking his laws? He provided for us to be pardon from our sins, but we reject the sacrifice of His Son by continuing in rebellion against His will. And yet some still dare say, God is unjust in sending us to hell! God has been more than fair! I would not give my son for anyone’s sins. Would you?
God is not unfair because the wicked prosper while the just suffer. God causes the rain to fall on the just & unjust. As I said, the world is not always fair; but lets remember, God will even the score in the end (Psalm 73; 2 Thes. 1:4-9). Do we blame God when tragedy strikes, such as the loss of a love one? Remember God is no respecter of persons, all must die and by chance bad things happen to good people (Heb. 9:27; Act 10:34; Eccl. 9:11).
God expects us to deal fairly with one another. Life may not always be fair to us, but woe to us if we are not always fair to others. Mt. 7:12 says, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets”. God demands we be fair in our business practices, “A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight” (Proverbs 11:1). As employees we must give our employers a fair day’s work (Eph. 6:5-8). As employers we must give them a fair day’s wage for a fair days work (Eph. 6:5-8; Gen. 31:41-42). Now everyone is fair with their family, right? Wrong, but we better be if we want God’s blessings (col. 3:18-21; 1 Pet. 3:7). Let us always be fair in our dealings with all men (2 Cor. 8:21; Rom. 12:17).
Are we fair with God? I fear many are not. People are not being fair with God when they blame Him for things that go wrong in their life. We are not dealing fairly with Him when we make excuses for not obeying His will. We are not fair with God when we reject Him and then blame Him when we are condemned in our sins. Above all, Let us deal fairly with God! But to do so, we must do his will; which means, we must deal fairly with all men or else we are not being fair to God. Will you play fair or try to excuse your unfair practices by screaming “who said life was fair”?
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