Devotional from word for today
31 August 2018
Don't rejoice when your enemies fall.' Proverbs 24:17 NLT
When someone achieves something, we may feel resentful. Maybe we want that success for ourselves, or maybe we feel they're not deserving of the success. But that's not how God expects us to react. The Bible tells us to, 'rejoice with those who rejoice' (Romans 12:15 NIV).
We need to be celebrating people's success, not resenting them because of it. And that includes celebrating the successes of those who've hurt us or the people we really don't get on with. That can be pretty challenging. When we're feeling hurt, betrayed or disappointed, it can be tempting to want that person to fail. There's something in seeing them fail that seems to make us feel better.
That's not how we're called to live. Proverbs 24:17 (NLT) says: 'Don't rejoice when your enemies fall; don't be happy when they stumble.' And in Romans 12:14 (NIV) it goes as far as to say, 'Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.' We shouldn't be wishing failure on those who've hurt us, instead we should be praying that they'd be blessed. We shouldn't be wanting others to fail, or refusing to celebrate their success, but instead setting ourselves free from bitterness and resentment by forgiving people and asking God to bless them. That may seem unfair. But God knows the whole situation, he sees everything, even the behind-the-scenes parts, so we can hand everything over to him.
So what now? Is there someone who's hurt you who has achieved something amazing? Ask God to bless that person today.
31 August 2018
Don't rejoice when your enemies fall.' Proverbs 24:17 NLT
When someone achieves something, we may feel resentful. Maybe we want that success for ourselves, or maybe we feel they're not deserving of the success. But that's not how God expects us to react. The Bible tells us to, 'rejoice with those who rejoice' (Romans 12:15 NIV).
We need to be celebrating people's success, not resenting them because of it. And that includes celebrating the successes of those who've hurt us or the people we really don't get on with. That can be pretty challenging. When we're feeling hurt, betrayed or disappointed, it can be tempting to want that person to fail. There's something in seeing them fail that seems to make us feel better.
That's not how we're called to live. Proverbs 24:17 (NLT) says: 'Don't rejoice when your enemies fall; don't be happy when they stumble.' And in Romans 12:14 (NIV) it goes as far as to say, 'Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.' We shouldn't be wishing failure on those who've hurt us, instead we should be praying that they'd be blessed. We shouldn't be wanting others to fail, or refusing to celebrate their success, but instead setting ourselves free from bitterness and resentment by forgiving people and asking God to bless them. That may seem unfair. But God knows the whole situation, he sees everything, even the behind-the-scenes parts, so we can hand everything over to him.
So what now? Is there someone who's hurt you who has achieved something amazing? Ask God to bless that person today.