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EDHEADS are rare. And obviously when you hear the phrase "treated like a redheaded stepchild" you recognize immediately both the intended humor as well as the derogatory connotation. Of course, there is nothing wrong with being either a stepchild or having red hair, but both characteristics do make a person relatively rare, and have (in certain cases) earned unfair harassment, hazing and abuse for some people.
Anyway, if a person gets treated like they are guilty, when they are not... if an individual is unjustly labeled as inferior... if a person perceives that they are being treated like a redheaded stepchild; despair and/or rebellion can quickly result. The psalmist addresses this in Psalm 125:3. God doesn't treat His children the same way He treats His enemies. Perhaps the simplest way of expressing the difference is to say that God punishes the wicked and disciplines the righteous. I don't mean that the severity is so divergent, although that is true too (Romans 11:22). The purpose is different. Chastening is exclusively a family affair (Hebrews 12:6). Discipline is not pleasant, it is painful, but God has our good in mind (Hebrews 12:11). On the other hand, retribution; justice; condemnation; punishment... these things are reserved for the unbelieving and the devoutly irreligious. These things are about God's anger and the preservation of holiness... not about the good of the recipient.
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