Rejoice

“and if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”  1 Corinthians 12:26

Rejoice – God is into parties.  When one member of His family has reason to celebrate, He calls everyone to join in.  He likes all of us to share the happiness of one.  That seems perfectly reasonable.  After all, if the honor that I receive is a reflection of the efforts of others, then I would expect all who supported me to be as happy as I am.  Since the honor was not mine alone, the rejoicing will not be mine alone.

Paul makes this point emphatically clear when he adds a little something to the Greek verb for rejoice.  He adds the same prefix that he added when he talked about suffering together.  He adds sun (together) to chairo (rejoice).  It’s an “all together” party.  Christians share their burdens and their triumphs because they know that who they are and what they do depends on the community God arranges.

Your life is written for harmony.  You were never intended to sing solo.  God designed you incapable of self-sufficiency.  God is not the author of the “self-made man”.  That idea is just the opposite of God’s man.  God’s man is the one who knows his life is full of dependencies.  Whether good or bad, events in the life of one who follows Jesus are the sums of all God’s engineered intersections with others.

Someone you know receives an honor.  Someone you know is blessed with a happy event.  Someone you know experiences a victory.  How do you feel?  Are you thrilled with their success?  Are you applauding with enthusiasm?  Does your heart have a warm smile for them?  Are you singing praises?  Or are you saying, “Why didn’t I get that reward?  Why shouldn’t I get the credit?”

Humility for what you receive.  Joy for what others are given.  That is heavenly harmony, all voices blended together.  How’s your singing today?