Why do God bless some more than others?

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Some are blessed with more physical things (eg wealth, beauty)

They get gifts (eg intelligence, a talent of any sort), while others don’t get any.

Some get to feel God (whatever that means for them? Fuzzy feelings, experiences etc. I am no theologian, I think the term in consolation?), while others have prayed and prayed and got nothing at all.

Is it fair to say that there is a God who favors some over others (while still loving everybody)?
 
Lea101 said:
Some are blessed with more physical things (eg wealth, beauty)

They get gifts (eg intelligence, a talent of any sort), while others don’t get any.

Some get to feel God (whatever that means for them? Fuzzy feelings, experiences etc. I am no theologian, I think the term in consolation?), while others have prayed and prayed and got nothing at all.

Is it fair to say that there is a God who favors some over others (while still loving everybody)?
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Society has lost sight of the fact that gifts, talents etcetra, are given to us to “serve” Love. They exist to serve the common good, and everybody has their own individual role to play in that common good. For example if you have a talent for business you can provide jobs and security for people. If you are rich you can give to charity. If you are strong you can protect the weak. If you are a comedian you can entertain people. If you have the gift of performing miracles you can inspire people to have faith. Talents and skills do not exist in a void, they do not exist simply to serve the individual; they exist for all of us. They exist to serve the common good.

It’s got nothing to do with God favoring one more than the other.

We can lose sight of this fact because we live in a society and culture that promotes extreme individualism, living for ones self. So it can seem as if God favors one more than the other, but this is simply because society has fallen from God’s grace.
 
Lea101 said:
Some are blessed with more physical things (eg wealth, beauty)

They get gifts (eg intelligence, a talent of any sort), while others don’t get any.

Some get to feel God (whatever that means for them? Fuzzy feelings, experiences etc. I am no theologian, I think the term in consolation?), while others have prayed and prayed and got nothing at all.

Is it fair to say that there is a God who favors some over others (while still loving everybody)?
Click to expand...
If God were to create everyone the same, 1)insanity would result and 2)ignore the effect of freewill on future offsprings.
  1. Insanity. Reminds me of a scifi TV series long ago where everyone has to wear a mask and they are identified by the masks they wear. When questioned on the need to wear the mask, the Elder unmasked a male/female couple which revealed a perfect specimen of man/woman. The observer exclaimed that for such a splendid looking couple there is no need to wear masks. Masks typically were put on to hide disfigured faces from the observer POV. The Elder proceed to unmasked everyone and they all looked the same, clones. The Elder said, if you see your own face in everyone, we will all go insane. If God were to create lookalikes, you won’t be able to differentiate your children, spouse, parents, politicians etc from one another. Insanity will result.
  1. If one abuse one’s body i.e. drugs, nicotine, dangerous living, alcohol, we should be expecting our offsprings to reflect that life choice. If everyone is identical in talent, but one chooses not to make use of the talent or abuse the talent, the outcome must be different for one who chose a different path. If nothing changes despite different treatments, then really there is no freewill.
There is beauty in differentiation. Sameness is not an optimal quality. We don’ t want everybody to be a Mozart, Da Vinci, Shakespeare etc all in one person. Do we?
 
ericc said:
If God were to create everyone the same, 1)insanity would result and 2)ignore the effect of freewill on future offsprings.
  1. Insanity. Reminds me of a scifi TV series long ago where everyone has to wear a mask and they are identified by the masks they wear. When questioned on the need to wear the mask, the Elder unmasked a male/female couple which revealed a perfect specimen of man/woman. The observer exclaimed that for such a splendid looking couple there is no need to wear masks. Masks typically were put on to hide disfigured faces from the observer POV. The Elder proceed to unmasked everyone and they all looked the same, clones. The Elder said, if you see your own face in everyone, we will all go insane. If God were to create lookalikes, you won’t be able to differentiate your children, spouse, parents, politicians etc from one another. Insanity will result.
  1. If one abuse one’s body i.e. drugs, nicotine, dangerous living, alcohol, we should be expecting our offsprings to reflect that life choice. If everyone is identical in talent, but one chooses not to make use of the talent or abuse the talent, the outcome must be different for one who chose a different path. If nothing changes despite different treatments, then really there is no freewill.
There is beauty in differentiation. Sameness is not an optimal quality. We don’ t want everybody to be a Mozart, Da Vinci, Shakespeare etc all in one person. Do we?
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Well I am not talking about the same type of blessings though.

(BTW a group of people can be all beautiful and yet look different)

I’m talking about some people who get something, and those who get nothing.

Or someone who is blessed with many things, while others get one or two blessings in their lifetime
 
IWantGod said:
Society has lost sight of the fact that gifts, talents etcetra, are given to us to “serve” Love. They exist to serve the common good, and everybody has their own individual role to play in that common good. For example if you have a talent for business you can provide jobs and security for people. If you are rich you can give to charity. If you are strong you can protect the weak. If you are a comedian you can entertain people. If you have the gift of performing miracles you can inspire people to have faith. Talents and skills do not exist in a void, they do not exist simply to serve the individual; they exist for all of us. They exist to serve the common good.

It’s got nothing to do with God favoring one more than the other.

We can lose sight of this fact because we live in a society and culture that promotes extreme individualism, living for ones self. So it can seem as if God favors one more than the other, but this is simply because society has fallen from God’s grace.
Click to expand...
Those who weren’t given anything…are they not meant to serve? And instead receive?
 
ericc said:
There is beauty in differentiation. Sameness is not an optimal quality. We don’ t want everybody to be a Mozart, Da Vinci, Shakespeare etc all in one person. Do we?
Click to expand...
If everybody was Mozart life would be boring. Scarceness gives value to things.
 
Sometimes paintings are worth millions of dollars, but during the artist’s life no one appreciated them. Sometimes a person may be beautiful, but for some reason, nobody bothers with them.

Some rich people are despised for no reason except that they are rich. They may give away money, but people just think they should give money away because it is expected.

Maybe God blesses some more than others in some ways, but it may be a burden to the person who has been blessed. He may need to learn how to handle it. Someone who is extremely intelligent may have a hard time socially because no one understands some of the concepts he speaks of. He may have to “dumb down” a bit to make small talk and try to be sociable.
 
God gives graces to every believer, we just don’t always recognize those graces when we get them. And yes, God does favor certain people. Remember the parable of the talents? There were three servants who were given money by their master. One got a lot of money, one got a little, and one got something in between. God gives all of us something. We are expected to invest it wisely.
 
Its perspective - you consider being rich and beautiful and talented as being blessed - is it?

I think walking away from all that and being able to give your all to others is being blessed.

Status and material wealth is not being blessed in my view but if that’s how you see it - there are much greater virtues to strive for and maybe God will bless you to truly do God work in the world - and it won’t be being rich beautiful and talented.
 
IWantGod said:
Society has lost sight of the fact that gifts, talents etcetra, are given to us to “serve” Love. They exist to serve the common good, and everybody has their own individual role to play in that common good. For example if you have a talent for business you can provide jobs and security for people. If you are rich you can give to charity. If you are strong you can protect the weak. If you are a comedian you can entertain people. If you have the gift of performing miracles you can inspire people to have faith. Talents and skills do not exist in a void, they do not exist simply to serve the individual; they exist for all of us. They exist to serve the common good.

It’s got nothing to do with God favoring one more than the other.

We can lose sight of this fact because we live in a society and culture that promotes extreme individualism, living for ones self. So it can seem as if God favors one more than the other, but this is simply because society has fallen from God’s grace.
Click to expand...
Well said,

I told my daughter when they were young that they had special gifts that God wants them to use in his Kingdom on Earth to serve him and others.

Mary.
 
Lea101 said:
Some are blessed with more physical things (eg wealth, beauty)

They get gifts (eg intelligence, a talent of any sort), while others don’t get any.

Some get to feel God (whatever that means for them? Fuzzy feelings, experiences etc. I am no theologian, I think the term in consolation?), while others have prayed and prayed and got nothing at all.

Is it fair to say that there is a God who favors some over others (while still loving everybody)?
Click to expand...
Life is not fair. Not everyone gets equal share or opportunity. That is reality. However, everyone receives sufficient grace for their salvation, even though not everyone chooses to take advantage of that grace.

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” (Ph 4:12)

One is happy if they can be happy in whatever situation they find themselves in life. If you can not be happy with less then you will not be happy with more. For happiness is not found in these fleeting things like beauty, vanity, wealth, but is found in the Lord. If one truly knows the Lord as St. Paul did they desire nothing but to know him. None of those other things really matter. In the final analysis all that will remain is faith, hope and love.
 
fisherman_carl said:
Life is not fair. Not everyone gets equal share or opportunity. That is reality. However, everyone receives sufficient grace for their salvation, even though not everyone chooses to take advantage of that grace.

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” (Ph 4:12)

One is happy if they can be happy in whatever situation they find themselves in life. If you can not be happy with less then you will not be happy with more. For happiness is not found in these fleeting things like beauty, vanity, wealth, but is found in the Lord. If one truly knows the Lord as St. Paul did they desire nothing but to know him. None of those other things really matter. In the final analysis all that will remain is faith, hope and love.
Click to expand...
👍
And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as “foreigners in the land.”
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1 Peter 1:17
 
Arizona_Fat_Gir said:
Sometimes paintings are worth millions of dollars, but during the artist’s life no one appreciated them. Sometimes a person may be beautiful, but for some reason, nobody bothers with them.

Some rich people are despised for no reason except that they are rich. They may give away money, but people just think they should give money away because it is expected.

Maybe God blesses some more than others in some ways, but it may be a burden to the person who has been blessed. He may need to learn how to handle it. Someone who is extremely intelligent may have a hard time socially because no one understands some of the concepts he speaks of. He may have to “dumb down” a bit to make small talk and try to be sociable.
Click to expand...
Your last sentence says it all! Beauty and wealth are not necessarily blessings. It is what one does with those that really counts.

God loves us all without limit! He is always waiting in the wings to hear our repentance and lavish us with His grace. St. Francis of Assisi left the wealth of his father and pursued holiness through poverty.

Meditation on the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ helps us to be aware of the Lord’s infinite goodness to all of us.

Peace,

Dorothy
 
Lea101 said:
Well I am not talking about the same type of blessings though.

(BTW a group of people can be all beautiful and yet look different)

I’m talking about some people who get something, and those who get nothing.

Or someone who is blessed with many things, while others get one or two blessings in their lifetime
Click to expand...
Well Jesus expect those given more to do more as well. Mat 25:14-30. But on the other hand, God does create vessels for baser needs as well. 1 Tim 2:20-21. Even the person born blind John 9:3 can be used to show the glory of God whereas a person that was given plenty can squander everything away.
 
Is it fair to say that there is a God who favors some over others (while still loving everybody)?

I think it would be fair to say that God does Love some more that others.

Does He love His elect more?
Does He love His Church more?
Does He love His Mother more?
Does He love His Son more? …
 
Beauty can be used to bring people in.

Wealth can be used to help the poor

They are both blessings, but some can waste such blessings away.

Others have blessings that are not tangible (eg intelligence, writing, singing, speaking etc)

Some are more connected to God than others (eg God communicating to Saints, or they have experiences, or gifts of the holy spirit etc)

I’m not talking about what you think are blessings, but rather why certain people seem to get showered with more blessings and others have none.
 
Those who are showered with more blessings are doing right when they share those blessings with others.

I think of many priests who are great speakers and obedient to the Church. Lay people also. They are given those blessings to encourage and teach others in their spiritual lives.
 
The age old question…

Here’s the answer: “it’s a mystery!”
 
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