Do You Rejoice and Weep With Your Brethren?
Thinking about Romans 12:15.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. (Romans 12:15)
As Paul describes the Christian life - a life that is a living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1-2) - he addresses our need to “rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”
It Shows We Genuinely Care.
How challenging can it be to rejoice and celebrate the good fortune of someone else when things in your life haven’t been so great lately?
On the other hand, it can be equally as challenging to weep with someone when things in our life are great - or perhaps if the person weeping has persecuted us in some way (Romans 12:14).
In both instances, to submit ourselves to God as a living sacrifice means we care about others and put others before ourselves (Romans 12:10). There is a genuine love and concern for others in doing what Paul urges Christians to do in this passage.
A spirit of brotherly kindness to all that will make us rejoice with the successful and sorrow with the unfortunate is the spirit of Christ. - Lipscomb, Romans, 229
The mind of Christ is a mindset that considers “others better than himself” and looks out “for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4).
It Demonstrates an Absence of Envy.
If we are envious of others, we will have a difficult time rejoicing with them. Envy will cause us to resent their success and wish it had happened to us instead.
Is there anything more refreshing than the absence of jealousy in one who sees the good fortune of another? Our world is so full of envy and the grudging spirit. How lovely it is to see one like this. - McGuiggan, Romans, 362
Sometimes rejoicing is hindered by envy…that is, sometimes we are so selfish and envious we are not willing to share the joy of someone who is blessed exceedingly, seemingly a little more than we are blessed. - Greene, Romans, 280
On the other hand, if something bad happens in someone’s life and we envy them, we will have a hard time weeping with them because as far as we are concerned, “they got what was coming to them.”
Selfishness and envy will prevent us from rejoicing with others when they rejoice, and from weeping with them when they weep.
Paul is emphasizing a togetherness with our brothers and sisters. When they rejoice, we ought to rejoice too - because of how much we love them and want what’s best for them.
When they hurt and grieve, we grieve right alongside them because it breaks our hearts to see our brethren hurting.
This is the way of Christ - this is what it means to be a living sacrifice for God.
"This is the way of Christ - this is what it means to be a living sacrifice for God."
As J. Vernon McGee would would say, "Now friends, this is where the rubber meets the road".