Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them. Do not fret because of evildoers or be envious of the wicked, for the evildoer has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out. (Proverbs 23:17-20)
On the contrary: “If
your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
(Romans 12:20)
Two
very basic concepts, back-to-back. 1) Don’t celebrate the misfortunes of your enemies (or anyone else). 2) Don’t stress
over the success of your enemies (or anyone else). As I listen to folks talk
about the dangers of social media, this is one of the big issues. People post
highlight reels for themselves, leading those who can’t measure up feeling like
trash. They post attack reels about those they don’t like, trying to make them
look as bad as possible so that they can consider themselves (and anyone who
agrees with them) superior.
We’re
to do the opposite. We’re to help our enemies when they need it, and be
unbiased in our judgment of all. If someone is doing better than we are, or
worse than we are, it’s really not our business unless we can help them or if
they are doing something illegal or wrong.
This
all goes back to the same rant I made not too long ago. We aren’t to see people
are rich people or poor people any more than we’re to see them as Black, White,
Asian, Neurodivergent, etc. people. We’re to see them as people. Not better.
Not worse. People.
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