And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:39
The second calling of God on your life as a Christian is to love your neighbor as yourself. That would mean finding as much joy in God blessing your friend, your sister, or your brother as you would have if God gave the same gift to you.
None of us is there yet, but one day, when God’s work of grace is complete in all of us, we will have as much joy in a blessing bestowed on someone else as we would have if it had been given to us.
Imagine a soccer team in which you had as much joy in someone else scoring a goal as you would have if you had scored the goal yourself! Imagine a city in which pastors and leaders have as much joy in God’s blessing on another church or ministry as they would have if the same blessing had been given to their own.
No envy. No jealousy. Gone will be the plague of, “Why him or her and not me?” That’s where we will be when God’s work of grace in us is complete. Growth in grace means that we move in that direction.
If building the temple really is for the glory of God, it should make no difference to David who builds it. David would have had great joy in building a temple, but his joy was no less when that honor was given to his son.
Can you think of someone to whom God has given a blessing that you would have liked for yourself? Seek to rejoice and give thanks to God on their behalf.
