Is life fair?
Is life fair?
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Not always. Next question.
I agree with the response above.lIFE IS NOT always fair, in fact it seldom is fair. I try totell mykids this all the time. When one gets something and the other doesn’t and they complain I let them know that the way things work out sometimes. When grandparents buy presents forone grandchild at a birthday and then the others gifts also to appease them, they are setting these kids up for disappointment in reallife. In real life good people die young and bad people live long prosperous lives. Sometimes the lesser employee gets the promotion and the moretallented person is passed over. The athelete thatreally puts her heart into a sport but ends up bench warming is not trated fairly when a lesser athelete is put in the gameinstead. These are all unfair.
God does care about Justice but its not always on the level that we expect. Why dont drug dealers get shot and killed instead of innocent children playing around a drug deal gone bad? Why do children loose their loving mother when they and she are young?
God has his reasons for all these things and ultimtely they may lead to a greater good that only he can know.
Life in itsunfairness is a matter of faith.
While it is true that life is often unfair, I think a Christian in this world has a great opportunity to be fairness in it.
Sadly, life is not fair. However, if it were, I think we wouldn’t need faith or grace. If you could earn what you “think” you deserve, why would we need a God? I was taught that if you work hard enough, you will succeed at your endeavor. The last two years of my life have repeatedly disproven that. Do you realize how hard it is to UNLEARN something? I pray every day to keep remembering to work hard at God’s will, THEN I will succeed.
Is life fair? I think this all depends on whose perspective you have. Who are we to decide what is fair and/or not fair? Is it fair that we are able to receive God’s grace daily when we truly don’t deserve it? Is it fair that he continually forgives us when we repeat the same sins over and over again? We truly don’t deserve the awesome blessings he has given us, so you could say its not fair that we are getting all of these amazing benefits when we are of sinful human nature. And yet, he never fails or forgets us. I think the problem of unfairness comes in when we try to decide what is fair and what is not fair. Sure, according to us, there are many things that are unfair that happen every day. But, as Christians, we have to learn a whole new perspective on life and realize that God is the ultimate decision maker. While these “unfair” worldly things will continue on, for reasons we may never know, I feel that the saving grace of Jesus is the most “unfair” thing of all because I truly don’t deserve it.
When my children were still living at home, I always told them that, “Life is not fair”. I’m not sure this was the correct thing to do. As adults, from time to time, they’ve used this as an excuse in many situations.
Phillip Yancey has a book called Disappointment with God. Great book with a great premise. Theres a ton of people walking around that hate God or are disillusioned with God cause he hasn’t come thru for them in the way they want. And so they say life/God is not fair.
Tim Keller of NY Redeemer Presby Church would say that the thing that people so desperately want God to do for them (and hinge their belief in him depending on whether or not he comes thru for them)is really their true (functional)god. But God won’t bow to their false deities and so at the heart of the debate is our will vs His will.
“But, as Christians, we have to learn a whole new perspective on life and realize that God is the ultimate decision maker…I feel that the saving grace of Jesus is the most “unfair” thing of all because I truly don’t deserve it.”…Great thoughts, Bethany…I particularly like that last part about saving grace!
Dave — I also think Yancey’s book is a great book to tackle. I love his writing style and he does not candy coat any of the issues. I have a great friend who went through a “hating God” phase and Yancey helped her navigate through those difficult waters.
Absolutely not. If it were, all evil would be destroyed, all good would be rewarded.
I agree with Tammy. My husband and I have worked so hard the last couple of years to do “the right thing” for his children, but we have only been met with unfairness and disappointment. Why should someone who claims to be a Christian, but does hateful and unchristian-like things get to go to heaven? It’s just not fair. That is definitely where faith comes in. We have been trying to remain faithful but it’s becoming harder and harder to believe. God is letting one ruthless, selfish woman ruin the lives of 3 innocent, adorable children. Those children now hate their father because of her selfish and insecure ways. When will justice come? When will she be punished? After she’s taken their loving father away from them? No, because all she has to do is say she’s sorry to God and he will forgive her and she will get into heaven. It’s just not fair.
God never promised life would be fair. As a matter of fact, the Bible seems to make it clear that life is very hard and oftentimes unfair. We enter into a relationship w/ God b/c of the love we have for Him and His work on our behalf not because we want protection from any and all harm. Just look at the life of His own son, Jesus. Can we possibly say that it was ok for Jesus, who was completely innocent of any crime, to be beaten and murdered so that we can live but God is unfair because we have pain in our own life? The amazing truth is that God takes the hard, unfair times in our life and causes something good to come from them. Now that is why God’s grace is called amazing.
Life is not fair…nor is FAVOR. ALL THINGS work together for the good of them who loves the LORD. When things happen to us, its not always a direct result of something we did or did not do. God sees a bigger picture…for the KINGDOM. But when you continue in faith and keep believing in HIM, it is then when he shows up and allows us to see THE BIG PICTURE.