A few days ago, while reading the Foch woman devotional, Rubie – the author – wrote about Unlikely vessels. At the end of the page, for the reflection, she asks a question: How can you be more intentional about your unconscious bias?
Before going any further, Bias means the action of supporting or opposing a particular person or thing in an unfair way, because of allowing personal opinions to influence your judgment.
Usually, I have something to write for the reflections but this time, I took my time to fill in the answer. Initially, I thought I didn’t have any unconscious bias I’m not aware of, but then my mind began to open up.
An instance of unconscious bias in the Bible is found in 1 Samuel 16:1-13. In this story, God appoints David as the next king of Israel. Although, when Samuel saw Eliab, he thought that Eliab would be king because of his stature. In that moment, God spoke and said don’t look at the outward appearance but the heart.
I’ve recently realized that I have an unconscious bias towards writers of a certain race. If you really know me, then you know I read a lot of books. My friends can testify that I do read a whole lot.
As a child, I always heard of Sidney Sheldon. It wasn’t until my teenage years I began to hear of Chimamanda Adichie. Sadly, it will take some time to unlearn that Nigerian/African writers are not bad. They were just not well represented at the time.
Our minds continue to harbour unconscious biases about life and all. Whenever these biases pop up, hand it over to God and let him help you. As for me, I’ve handed this over to the lover of my soul, God.
Thank you for reading!
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2 Responses
I loved reading this Funmi❤️
You reminded me of an unconscious bias I also had towards females when I went out on evangelism, somewhere in my mind, I also just thought it’ll be easier to speak to the females better, God started dealing with it in me and helping me see that I can’t be bias with the spread of His word.
That’s just one in quite a number that I discover everyday!
May God help us❤️
Thanks for sharing x
Thank you Rubie for your comment !! I just saw this comment, 1 week later.
My apologies, I’ve got to check the settings on my side.
Amen to God helping us with the unconscious biases we have.
Thank you for reading!