My Hero: Healing From Wounds of a FatherSample

Day 8 - Favoritism

It doesn’t feel good when it seems like our fathers have their favorite kid and we are not it. This can lead us to strive for acceptance, recognition, and attention. It can also lead to competition among siblings which comes with a lot of arguments and even grudges.

A great example of this comes from the life of Jacob. He had 13 children (12 sons and 1 daughter). When he had his 11th son, Joseph, he became, by far, Jacob’s favorite son. This made all of Joseph’s brothers extremely jealous. It was one of the things that motivated them to sell Joseph into slavery.

Treating one child with favoritism in comparison to the rest is bound to cause problems. Fathers should make sure all of their children know they are each loved and special in their own way. Fathers shouldn’t do things to make any one of them feel less than the rest.

Has favoritism played a role in your relationship with your earthly father?

Are you harboring any feeling of jealousy towards your siblings or anger at your father? If you have them, go to God with these feelings and confess them so He can bring healing.