Agape Love - Lose the Evil Laugh...

One evening, my hubby and I were heading out of town for an appointment, and the weather was less than ideal. There was heavy snow, causing slush on the freeway, but everyone seemed to be minding their "take it slow in ice and snow" advice that every Michigan road billboard scrolls in that kind of weather, until we got to Muskegon. Now, I apologize if you are from Muskegon, and I'm stereotyping your people, but every time I make a trip to Grand Rapids there are two points of the trip that have the craziest drivers. I-96 and Muskegon. This particular night proved my point well. As someone sped by us in the passing lane at more than 70mph, might I add, splashing slush all over our already hard to see out of windshield, we just shook our heads and secretly hoped they would be in the ditch in the next mile. (C'mon! You've all thought it too! Or you wish a cop was right around the corner.) While this never ever happens for us, this evening we got to experience the sweet satisfaction of someone having to eat their actions. This person did not go in a ditch, but spun out in front of us, flew across the lanes and ended up on the (thankfully) wide shoulder, facing the wrong way of the flowing traffic. She was fine, her car was fine, but she just looked epically ticked off. As we went our 35-45mph past her, we couldn't help but feel a little bit of delight as we chuckled together. (Yeah, we're horrible people.)

Agape love does not delight (rejoice, be glad) in evil (unrighteousness, injustice), as we continue to read in 1 Corinthians 13. While I know that it wasn't nice to feel glad that the girl who drove erratically near us to get what she deserved, this characteristic of agape covers all sorts of things we can take delight in that we shouldn't. From bigger, most evil things to smaller, everyday overlooks, we can take delight in so many things that we shouldn't. It can be helping a friend cheat or soaking up juicy gossip about someone who failed or fell short. It could be feeling a little bit of satisfaction when someone who hurt you gets hurt. It could be rejoicing when something goes your way when you know deep down that it is the wrong choice, or wrong by God's standards.

Isaiah 5:20 warns, "woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."

There are many warning signs we can look out for to tell us if we're drifting into delighting in evil.

You rub it in people's faces when you're right. When you are correct in seeing a situation pan out the way you thought, or you have more knowledge than someone else, you will point it out as soon as you know.

You feel even a little satisfaction when someone else fails or gets hurt. This stems from a heart of insecurity and jealousy. Not only do you feel satisfaction in the failure, but you point it out in gossip or even to the person's face, just to let it sting harder.

We need to realize that delighting in evil comes from a place of pride and insecurity. It is a problem we have that we need to address and grow from. And in doing so, we become better in relationships in every aspect of our lives. Rather than rubbing failure and hurt and taking a bit of joy from it, we can hurt with someone and be there for them. Start by practicing some things to help you take right steps:

Humble yourself. It's amazing how powerful humility is. Humility causes you to hold your tongue. Humility helps you point out someone else's successes, rather than rub salt on their failures. Humility makes you realize that you could be that person in that position, and maybe you are, which is why you hurt everyone else too.

Don't feel like you need to tell others what you believe about a person and their lives, because you don't. The only thing you should know is that if someone hurts, they're lives are already miserable at the moment.

Take steps to seek the best interest for someone else, rather than justifying your anger or frustrations in laughing at the frustrations of others. Recall the words from Philippians 2:

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interest of others."

Scripture to Read:
Isaiah 5:20, Philippians 2:2-4

Questions to Ponder:
What are some examples you can think of in the Bible where someone "delighted" in evil?
What are some ways you may slip into "delighting" in evil, whether big or small?
How can you address the insecurities that lead you to those tendencies?