Mariah tripped and fell into a huge puddle of dirty brown water. The muddy water splashed all over her face, and her outfit was ruined! Just as Mariah was getting up, her classmate Tina walked over and pushed her back into the puddle. Tina then ran off to join her friends. Mariah could not believe that Tina would be so mean! She slouched down deeper into the puddle and cried.
If you were to see this happen you would probably think that Tina was the meanest person ever, wouldn’t you? How could she push her classmate back into the mud instead of helping her get up?
It may be hard to imagine, but this actually happens a lot. Think about it this way. It may not be muddy water, but have you felt a little happy when someone gets in trouble for something they did to you? Maybe your sister hit you and while she was being punished for it, you smiled. And then after her punishment, you walked by her and joyfully said, “Told you!”
Delighting or rejoicing in someone else’s failure is never the right thing to do. It’s just like pushing them in the mud. And the Bible tells us not to do it. Proverbs 24:17 says, “Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice.” The next time you see someone having a bad day or being punished for a mistake, ask God to show you ways to encourage them. Be the one that picks them up out of the mud!
Dear God, help me to be an encourager—the person You depend on to pick other people up from the mud. Show me those who are hurting and give me the courage to be and show Your love. In Jesus’s name, amen.