Making a Choice to Rejoice

“Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” - Romans 12:15

Some commands in Scripture feel natural. Others stretch us past our comfort zone. Romans 12:15 gives both: “Weep with them that weep; rejoice with them that do rejoice.” Most people instinctively show compassion when someone is hurting. Tears draw us together. But rejoicing? That is often the harder command.

Why is it easier to enter another’s sorrow than to celebrate another’s success?

Because our flesh gravitates toward brokenness but hesitates toward blessing, we naturally feel empathy when someone suffers, yet when someone succeeds, something inside us is tempted to compare, to question, or to quietly resent. The sinful heart can take another person’s blessing and turn it into a personal indictment. It is not that we dislike their joy, it is that we fear what it exposes in us. Romans 12:15 becomes more than a relational instruction at that point. It becomes an emotional diagnostic that reveals the true condition of our heart.

A ministry leader with growing emotional maturity learns to rejoice deeply and sincerely, because rejoicing is not about circumstances, it is about character. Ministry constantly exposes us to brokenness. We sit with grief, we enter people’s crisis, and we carry their burdens, which naturally shapes us toward compassion. But when someone else is blessed, whether through a promotion, a victory, or a ministry success, something in our flesh begins to whisper questions of doubt. We wonder if they had an easier path or if they somehow pulled it off unfairly or even compromised something to receive it. Those quiet thoughts do not reveal spirituality. They reveal insecurity.

But when the Spirit shapes our emotions, rejoicing becomes not only possible, it becomes a privilege.

Three Marks of a Leader Who Chooses to Rejoice

I. R - Rejoicing Requires Humility

“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” - Philippians 2:3

“Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” James 3:16 reminds us that jealousy is loud while humility is quiet, and a humble heart celebrates the victories of others because it is not competing with them. When you rejoice with someone else, you are acknowledging God’s goodness without comparing His timing, allowing humility to silence envy and welcome joy.

“Rejoicing reveals whether we see others as rivals or brothers.” - Unknown

II. R - Rejoicing Reflects Love

“Charity envieth not…rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.” - 1 Corinthians 13:4, 6

“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:35 teaches that genuine love is never threatened by someone else’s blessing. Love carries no suspicion, no side glance, and no hidden irritation. It does not diminish another person’s gain but delights in it, proving itself through a heart that rejoices in the good God gives to others.

A ministry without love grows competitive. A ministry filled with love grows celebratory.

III. R - Rejoicing Reveals Spiritual Maturity

“The fruit of the Spirit is… joy.” - Galatians 5:22

“In honour preferring one another.” Romans 12:10 highlights that Spirit filled leaders draw from a deep well of joy that does not run dry when someone else is blessed. If your joy can only survive your own victories, then it is not the joy of the Spirit but the joy of the flesh, and as one writer noted, “If your joy depends on winning, you will lose it the moment someone else succeeds.” When you choose to rejoice with those who rejoice, you enlarge both your emotional and spiritual capacity.

In ministry, emotional maturity is not optional. It is essential. Rejoicing requires humility, reflects love, and reveals spiritual maturity. When God blesses another leader, another ministry, or another family, it is not a threat. It is a testimony!

If you cannot rejoice in someone else’s win, you will never sustain joy in your own work. Choosing to rejoice is choosing to grow.