Exodus 20:

3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Deuteronomy 5:

4  The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,

5  (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,

6 ¶  I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

7  Thou shalt have none other gods before me.

8  Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:

9  Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,

10  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

There is a sacred form of partiality and a corrupt form of partiality .

1 Timothy 5:1 - 21  I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.     ( what kind of partiality ? ) 

James 3:17  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

The partiality that is righteousness and love of the truth - is worth having.

The partiality that stems from love of sin and confederacy through hypocrisy - is treason toward God .

The righteous widow unable to support herself, or the hoochy mama homewrecker gossip,  which would you offer Church resources to help and advocate Church esteem toward ?  

Shireen wrote:

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Galatians 5 and 6 call us to love and service. Galatians 6 says we should especially serve believers: "especially unto them who are of the household of faith" (Gal. 6:10). Does this mean that I have a greater duty to serve believers in my family? I'm not talking about dependents, I mean adults who have chosen their spiritual path. Is it right to be showing preference to believing family members over non-believing or wayward family members? I look forward to your feedback.

 

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 Excellent question!!

I think of what Jesus told His disciples when they went out two by two.  If they were not received, they were to dust off the dirt from their sandals and move on...  if it is a brother or sister of our faith that needs help, I believe we do all we can to help them.  

Household of faith = 74 hits

CCh - Counsels for the Church (1991) Chapter 49 The Christian Attitude Toward Want and Suffering

How to Help the Needy

Methods of helping the needy should be carefully and prayerfully considered. We are to seek God for wisdom, for He knows better than shortsighted mortals how to care for the creatures He has made. There are some who give indiscriminately to everyone who solicits their aid. In this they err. In trying to help the needy, we should be careful to give them the right kind of help. There are those who when helped will continue to make themselves special objects of need. They will be dependent as long as they see anything on which to depend. By giving undue time and attention to these, we may encourage idleness, helplessness, extravagance, and intemperance. {CCh 285.1} 

When we give to the poor we should consider: "Am I encouraging prodigality? Am I helping or injuring them?" No man who can earn his own livelihood has a right to depend on others. {CCh 285.2} 

Men and women of God, persons of discernment and wisdom, should be appointed to look after the poor and needy, the household of faith first. These should report to the church and counsel as to what should be done. 529 {CCh 285.3} 

God does not require our brethren to take charge of every poor family that shall embrace this message. If they should do this, the ministers must cease to enter new fields, for the funds would be exhausted. Many are poor from their own lack of diligence and economy; they know not how to use means aright. If they should be helped, it would hurt them. Some will always be poor. If they should have the very best advantages, their cases would not be helped. They have not good calculation and would use all the means they could obtain, were it much or little. {CCh 285.4} 

When such embrace the message, they feel that they are entitled to assistance from their more wealthy brethren; and if their expectations are not met, they complain of the church and accuse them of not living out their faith. Who must be the sufferers in this case? Must the cause of God be sapped, and the treasury in different places exhausted, to take care of these large families of poor? No. The parents must be the sufferers. They will not, as a general thing, suffer any greater lack after they embrace the Sabbath than they did before. 530 {CCh 285.5} 

God suffers His poor to be in the borders of every church. They are always to be among us, and the Lord places upon the members of every church a personal responsibility to care for them. We are not to lay our responsibility upon others. Toward those within our own borders we are to manifest the same love and sympathy that Christ would manifest were He in our place. Thus we are to be disciplined, that we may be prepared to work in Christ's lines. 531 {CCh 285.6} 

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Obligations between teachers and pupils are mutual. Teachers should make diligent effort that their own souls may be sanctified through the grace of Christ, and that they may labor in Christ's lines for the salvation of their pupils. On the other hand, students should not pursue such a course of action as will make it hard and trying to their teachers, and bring upon them temptations hard to resist. Pupils should not, by a wrong course of action, lower the high standing and reputation of the school, and give reason for the report to go abroad among believers and unbelievers, that Seventh-day Adventist schools, though purporting to be established for giving the best of education to those who attend, are no better than the common schools throughout the world. This is not the character nor the reputation that God would have our schools bear; and those who have lent the influence with which God has intrusted them, to give such a character or reputation to the school, have lent it in a wrong direction. Those who have shown disrespect for rules, and who have sought to break down authority, whether they are believers or unbelievers, are registered in the books of heaven as those who cannot be trusted as members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. The teachers who carry the burden of the work that they should, will have sufficient responsibility, care, and burden, without having the added burden of your disobedience. They will appreciate every effort that is made on the part of the students to co-operate with them in the work.  {FE 246.1} ........

Why should students link themselves with the great apostate, to become his agents in tempting others, and through others causing the fall of many? Every human being has his own individual trials, peculiar to himself, and no one is free from temptation. If teachers are disciples of Christ, and are engaging in the work in a way which is approved of God, Satan will surely assail them with his temptations. If the great deceiver can stir up evil elements of character in the students, and through them bring perplexity and discouragement upon the educators, he has succeeded in gaining his purpose. If under the temptation the teacher reveals weakness, in any respect, then his influence is marred; but he who proves an agent for the great adversary of souls, must render an account to God for the part he acted in causing the teacher to stumble. Let students carefully consider this phase of the subject, and let them rather study how to encourage and sustain their teachers, than how to bring discouragement and temptation upon them. In so doing, they will not be sowing tares that will spring up among the wheat. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." Galatians 6:7-10.  {FE 249.2}  

     Students will be tempted to do lawless things, when it is only to please themselves and to have what they call "fun." If they will put themselves upon their honor, and consider the fact that in doing these things they bless no one, they benefit no one, but involve others as well as themselves in difficulty, they will be more likely to take a manly and honorable course, and put their will on the side of Christ's will. They will work in Christ's lines, and help their teachers to carry their burdens, which Satan would make more discouraging by employing thoughtless minds in vain tricks. They will seek to make an atmosphere in the school, which, instead of being depressing and enfeebling to the moral powers, will be healthful and exhilarating. In thus doing, students can have a consciousness that they have acted their part on Christ's side of the question, and have not given one jot of influence or ability to the great adversary of all that is good. With how much more satisfaction can students recall such a course of action, than a course of action where they have sanctioned secret plans to disrespect and disregard authority. They will have reason to praise God that they have resisted the clamorings of inclination, and have put their influence on the side of order, diligence, and obedience. Let every student remember that it is in his power to help, and not hinder, the cause of education.  {FE 250.1}  

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The Household of Faith 

     "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." Galatians 6:10.  {MH 201.2}  

     In a special sense, Christ has laid upon His church the duty of caring for the needy among its own members. He suffers His poor to be in the borders of every church. They are always to be among us, and He places upon the members of the church a personal responsibility to care for them.  {MH 201.3}  

     As the members of a true family care for one another, ministering to the sick, supporting the weak, teaching the ignorant, training the inexperienced, so is "the household of faith" to care for its needy and helpless ones. Upon no consideration are these to be passed by.  {MH 201.4} 

                    Widows and Orphans 

     The widow and the fatherless are the objects of the Lord's special care. 

     "A Father of the fatherless, and a Judge of the widows, 

      Is God in His holy habitation." 

     "Thy Maker is thy husband; 

      Jehovah of hosts is His name: 

      And the Holy One of Israel is thy Redeemer; 

      The God of the whole earth shall He be called." 

     "Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; 

      And let thy widows trust in Me." 

            Psalm 68:5; Isaiah 54:5, A.R.V.; Jeremiah 49:11.  {MH 202.1} 

     Many a father, when called upon to part from his loved ones, has died resting in faith upon God's promise to care for them. The Lord provides for the widow and the fatherless, not by a miracle in sending manna from heaven, not by sending ravens to bring them food; but by a miracle upon human hearts, expelling selfishness, and unsealing the fountains of Christlike love. The afflicted and bereaved ones He commits to His followers as a precious trust. They have the very strongest claim upon our sympathy.  {MH 202.2}  

     In homes supplied with life's comforts, in bins and granaries filled with the yield of abundant harvests, in warehouses stocked with the products of the loom, and vaults stored with gold and silver, God has supplied means for the sustenance of these needy ones. He calls upon us to be channels of His bounty.  {MH 202.3}  

     Many a widowed mother with her fatherless children is bravely striving to bear her double burden, often toiling far beyond her strength in order to keep her little ones with her and to provide for their needs. Little time has she for their training and instruction, little opportunity to surround them with influences that would brighten their lives. She needs encouragement, sympathy, and tangible help.  {MH 203.1}  

     God calls upon us to supply to these children, so far as we can, the want of a father's care. Instead of standing aloof, complaining of their faults, and of the trouble they may cause, help them in every way possible. Seek to aid the careworn mother. Lighten her burdens.  {MH 203.2}  

Then there are the multitudes of children who have been wholly deprived of the guidance of parents and the subduing influence of a Christian home. Let Christians open their hearts and homes to these helpless ones. The work that God has committed to them as an individual duty should not be turned over to some benevolent institution or left to the chances of the world's charity. If the children have no relatives able to give them care, let the members of the church provide homes for them. He who made us ordained that we should be associated in families, and the child nature will develop best in the loving atmosphere of a Christian home.  {MH 203.3}  

     Many who have no children of their own could do a good work in caring for the children of others. Instead of giving attention to pets, lavishing affection upon dumb animals, let them give their attention to little children, whose characters they may fashion after the divine similitude. Place your love upon the homeless members of the human family. See how many of these children you can bring up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Many would thus be greatly benefited themselves.  {MH 203.4} 

                         The Aged 

     The aged also need the helpful influences of the family. In the home of brethren and sisters in Christ can most nearly be made up to them the loss of their own home. If encouraged to share in the interests and occupations of the household, it will help them to feel that their usefulness is not at an end. Make them feel that their help is valued, that there is something yet for them to do in ministering to others, and it will cheer their hearts and give interest to their lives.  {MH 204.1}  

     So far as possible let those whose whitening heads and failing steps show that they are drawing near to the grave remain among friends and familiar associations. Let them worship among those whom they have known and loved. Let them be cared for by loving and tender hands.  {MH 204.2}  

     Whenever they are able to do so, it should be the privilege of the members of every family to minister to their own kindred. When this cannot be, the work belongs to the church, and it should be accepted both as a privilege and as a duty. All who possess Christ's spirit will have a tender regard for the feeble and the aged.  {MH 204.3}  

     The presence in our homes of one of these helpless ones is a precious opportunity to co-operate with Christ in His ministry of mercy and to develop traits of character like His. There is a blessing in the association of the old and the young. The young may bring sunshine into the hearts and lives of the aged. Those whose hold on life is weakening need the benefit of contact with the hopefulness and buoyancy of youth. And the young may be helped by the wisdom and experience of the old. Above all, they need to learn the lesson of unselfish ministry. The presence of one in need of sympathy and forbearance and self-sacrificing love would be to many a household a priceless blessing. It would sweeten and refine the home life, and call forth in old and young those Christlike graces that would make them beautiful with a divine beauty and rich in heaven's imperishable treasure.  {MH 204.4}