Fans Rejoicing and Fans Weeping

When you root for a specific team, you experience similar emotions with other like-minded fans. This morning, Broncos fans are celebrating their Super Bowl win. They are feeling proud and excited, and are high-fiving each other. Unfortunately for Panthers fans (myself included), we are experiencing surprise and disappointment, and are having to console each other. Both fan bases, however, find comfort in knowing they aren’t alone in the spot they find themselves because others are right beside them. The Bible says in Romans in 12:15, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep." It’s a simple verse, but I believe sports fans know how to live that out well when it comes to wins and losses. However, sharing in each others' emotions is also important in other areas of life, but we often struggle to do so. When it comes to rejoicing with others, we don’t always like to celebrate with our buddy who gets the promotion or buys the new big house or accepts the exciting job offer. We tend to get jealous or just pretend to be happy for them. When it comes to weeping with others, we tend to stay away because we don’t want to get in the middle of a tough situation. We’d rather avoid dealing with our friend who is going through a divorce or having serious health problems. We don’t want to be brought down by their discouragement. But today, as Panthers' fans are weeping together and Broncos fans are rejoicing together, let’s be challenged to rejoice with those who are rejoicing and enjoying a great season of life...and let's reach out to those we know are weeping for one reason or another. I’m Bryce Johnson and you can unpack that!