“Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice” (24:17). You are competitive, admit it! Most people are at least a bit competitive. Part and parcel of this competitiveness is the inability to genuinely celebrate the successes of those who we see as competitors. It is also why we are often quietly pleased when a superior rival crashes or fails in some way. Their failure can make us look better in our own eyes. The proverb tells us that we should not even gloat when our enemy stumbles. Why not? Because when we gloat over the failure of others, we drive this poisonous competitiveness deeper into our hearts. Competition, in one very limited sense, can be healthy but there is a psychological competitiveness that is a symptom of deep insecurity. It comes from the desperate need to validate oneself by comparison to others. You have a choice of how to respond to each situation. If you find yourself feeling pleased about the failure of another then ‘catch yourself out’. Don’t feel that way without facing the fact that you are gloating. Let the moment expose the poison within you. The more you confess it to God, you neutralise it and it ceases to have power over you. If, however, you allow yourself to live in competition with others you will only exhaust yourself. And you will never be satisfied because there will always be someone better. The ability to wholeheartedly celebrate the successes of competitors is the sign of a liberated person.
Ask God to lead you towards a liberated outlook in this respect.
Read Proverbs 24:11-22
