Rejoice with Those Who Rejoice PDF Print E-mail
Written by Bruce Applegate   
Monday, 04 February 2008

Do you ever have trouble with Romans 12: 15? The verse simply says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn (NIV).” I think for most people, it is easier to mourn with those who mourn than to rejoice with those who rejoice.

 

When someone is going through a difficult time, we can often empathize with their plight because we may have gone through a similar circumstance. But when someone has reason to rejoice I think it is often more difficult to rejoice with them.

 

Why? Maybe it is because we wish we would have received the blessing that is cause for their rejoicing. We might think to ourselves, “Why don’t things go like that for me? Why does it always happen to the other person?” And then we can find ourselves being envious.

 I have to tell you…God has an interesting way of speaking to me sometimes. I just got back from lunch (as I started on this article beforehand), coming from home a different way than I normally do, and I passed a neighboring church. It was the first time I had been by there in awhile and I saw that they have a building project going on. I have to confess that my first thought was not rejoicing…it was envy…ouch! God then hit me over the head with the hammer of humbleness, “Bruce, remember what you were writing just an hour ago, “rejoice with those who rejoice…” After I asked the Lord’s forgiveness, I did praise God that He was obviously blessing this church with a building program. They are no doubt growing and that is something to rejoice about! 

The fact of the manner is that even if we are a Christian we are still human. But as we draw closer and closer to Easter, we have a lot to rejoice about if we are a follower of Christ. In fact, as Christians, we have great reason to rejoice with one another. As Believers, we rejoice in the fact that we have been saved from our sins and will be in eternity with Jesus some day. The truth is: we have all been blessed by Jesus. Our blessings may not always look or feel the same, but we certainly can rejoice with one another.  

 

With Love,

 

Pastor Bruce

 
Last Updated ( Monday, 04 February 2008 )
 
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