Do you have an understanding of fairness? Do you treat all people with fairness? Do you treat your family with fairness? Do you expect something different from your family than you do others? Have you considered there might be consequences of treating someone unfairly?
We have our own understanding of fairness. It doesn’t always match up with what others consider as fair. We may expect that fairness is an exchange of things of equal value. Someone else may believe their fair share is more than others.
Sometimes we treat our families unfairly. We expect more of them than we do others. We have gotten in the habit of giving to our family members to the point that it is expected, whether we have anything to give or not. Some family members expect their family to always be there, to always bail them out, to always do what they want. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out that way.
As we see in the exchange between Laban and Jacob, Laban did not expect Jacob, though a kinsman, to work for him for free. Laban fully expected to pay Jacob something for his labors. They agreed upon an exchange that both thought to be fair. Jacob would work for Laban for seven years. Jacob asked for Rachel.
As we live and work with our families, perhaps we, too, can think about what is fair for everyone involved. We might consider if we are treating our family as fairly as we would a co-worker or a client. Maybe we should rethink how we approach and treat our families.
I pray we all think about how we treat our families. I pray we seek to treat everyone we meet fairly. I pray each one of us will ask God to enlighten us and guide us in our dealings with one another. Treat your family fairly. Treat everyone you encounter fairly. Ask God to help you. Ask guide to guide you in all dealing with others.
Genesis 29:15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?”
Marty Pressey 