"Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons."
Acts 10:34
I got to this verse by looking at the footnotes for D&C 1:35, but wanted to use this one instead just because D&C is warning everyone, but here the context is offering everyone the same gifts and promises.
What about places where we read about God's chosen people? That sounds like being a respecter of persons. ... I don't think that is actually a contradiction though. It's more like the story of the talents or the parable of the prodigal son. There seems to be favoritism in general in both cases, but what it is is actually responsibility. If we join in God's work then we are chosen (called) to the work, and might get different levels of "talents" (whether spiritual gift or monetary unit) as we choose to serve God, or we might start out well, but then choose to squander our inheritance / blessings. The inequity is temporary, but the underlying lessons of responsibility and priorities are what matter.
It's a hard concept to understand on one level because we are respecters of persons, and we change how we act and how we treat people based on a lot of things. Today though, let's do our best at trying it God's way, treating everyone with kindness adn respect (in a good way), and not promoting inequity. As we work on it, God can teach us more about others and about how to be better people.
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