How and Why You Should Rejoice With Those Who Rejoice
I work at Watermark Community Church with an incredibly gifted staff team. We meet together as a staff every Tuesday morning for our weekly prayer meeting. During these two hours together, we worship, pray, tell stories, laugh, confess, and so much more. It’s like a big, family gathering every week.
When I look around the room, I often get so insecure. I see incredibly gifted men and women who use their gifts for the glory of God and the good of men and women. On my good days, I celebrate with them. On the bad ones, I get jealous, self-centered, and compare my gifts to their gifts.
I see the way some people serve behind the scenes with humility and purpose. Or I watch the way others lead and teach, in large, medium, and small rooms. I see the way some make others laugh and entertain in winsome ways.
In my worst days, when I compare, I feel useless and like my gifts are a waste. I believe the lies that God loves others more than He loves me.
I’m guessing I’m not alone.
While you probably don’t sit in a circle like I do every Tuesday morning, you probably know what it’s like to compare yourself to others. You might covet someone else’s body type or composition. Maybe you covet their wisdom and academic prowess. Or, maybe you think you’d do better if you were playing with the cards of life they’d been dealt instead of your crappy deck.
Regardless, we all know what it’s like to compare ourselves and covet the success, riches, gifts, and relationships of others.
A few weeks ago while reading through the book of Romans, I came across a very familiar passage. In Romans 12:15, Paul writes, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” For the sake of this post, we’re going to focus on the first part: rejoice with those who rejoice.
Rejoice with those who rejoice
God’s been kicking my proverbial tail with the truth of this verse the last few months. Instead of coveting the success and position of others, I’m asking God to help me rejoice with them and celebrate their success. I’m asking God to help me give thanks for the abundance of gifts and talents He’s given the body of Christ!
Today’s simple—but not simple-to-apply—challenge is to celebrate and rejoice with others. A few questions to help guide you:
Who can you celebrate today? Who in your home, workplace, or small group can you celebrate? Take a moment now and thank God for the gifts and victory He gave them.
Ask yourself why you have trouble celebrating others. Ask your spouse, kids, or close friends if they think you’re strong or weak at celebrating others.
Take a moment to reflect on the gifts God’s entrusted to you. Thank Him for your gifts and talents and put them to work!
As an example of how God is growing me in this area, I’ve tried to be intentional the past few weeks in celebrating others. One of my top gifts is encouragement. When I’m too focused on coveting the gifts of others and disliking my own gifts, I neglect to use what God has given to me.
So to be intentional, every day I seek to encourage at least 3 other people through written or verbal communication. I don’t want to neglect the gift God has given me, and would much rather use what He’s entrusted to me.
Three people may not seem like much, but every day I’m intentionally seeking out opportunities to rejoice with others.
I challenge you to do the same this week. Who in your life can you rejoice with today?