Boasting in Other's Misfortune

Yesterday, I feel that God was calling me. The sermon fit perfectly into my life at the time like I was I was meant to hear it. I think God was sending me a message. I had a tough week that week as I had missed out on a promotion that I had worked all so hard for, but instead of being a good sport, I sulked. I became frustrated and took it out on those who had received the promotion.

In the book of Obadiah, God is sending a message to the people of Edom. To start off,  this book takes place when the people of Jacob and the people of Esau did not get along. We are still unsure of whether the writers of the Book as the book is named Obadiah, as Obadiah means servant of God, which was a common name of the time. In the book of Obadiah, we learn three great lessons from God; pride is a deadly sin, sinful behavior cannot be hidden or ignored, and how we relate to one another is important...

The people of Edom were living in sin, but the greatest sin they committed was Pride. When God brought his wrath on the people of Israel, the people of Edom boasted in there misfortune. They took pride in their demise by looting their homes, laughing at their misfortune, watching as people died, and handing over their survivors. Pride is humanities downfall. It is the deadliest sin because it causes us to commit other sins. I would consider it to be a gateway sin. We all can be prideful, but what really is pride? According to Wikipedia, Pride can have two different connotations; positive and negative. The negative side of Pride means an inflated sense of ones personal status or accomplishments. Pride is the biggest problem with humanity. Due to pride, we cause the poor to suffer. We forget one of the greatest commandments from God because of pride.

"You should not gloat over your brother

in the day of his misfortune,

nor rejoice over the people of Judah

    in the day of their destruction,

nor boast so much

    in the day of their trouble."

Obadiah 1:12

In the book of Obadiah, God warns the people over and over again, but they do not listen to him. Through this book, God is showing us how to treat others. Jesus sends us two commandments; to love one's neighbor as one's self and to love god with all ones heart, soul, and mind. When we boast in others misfortune we are not following god commandments. We must learn to serve others as we would want others to serve us. 

"If any one says, "I love god," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he ha seen, cannot love god who he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves god should love his brother also." 1 John 4:18-21 

When we see other's struggle, we must not profit from their misfortune. We forget how it feels until someone has treated us the same. Some questions to ask yourself if you are curious if you are boasting in others misfortune;

1. Are you profiting from it? 

2. How would you feel if someone did the same to you?

We often hear of others who buy houses that are repossessed. Isn't that the same as profiting from someone's misfortune. I believe yes and no. It depends on the situation. I would not buy a family member's house which is being repossessed, but if it is someone who did not properly care for and pay for the house, maybe I would buy it. It all depends on the situation. When some one is losing his or her house, often the family member will take possession of the house. This is horrible in my opinion. Often, family members forget how hurtful it is to see this happen. The profit from their misfortune and take pride in it. God clearly states that we should treat our neighbor's as our selves. How would we feel if some did this to us? So next time we do something questionable we should ask ourselves how would it feel if someone did it to us.