Gloating is fun ... but costly - Obadiah

As I write this I am recovering from a hard loss to an arch rival in our high school soccer program. Since we were supposed to be so good and they were supposed to be so poor, it was apparently a "shock" that we lost to them ... according to the paper. So, here we are, in the position of the gloated at. Those who are doing the gloated are rejoicing that we have "fallen" from the high rank that we had attained. The good news is the loss is the best thing that could have happened to us. The really good news is that in the past we have "gloated" at the loss of our opponents. We need to realize that this "gloating" either by us in the past or our opponent in the present is all seen by God and dispised by God. It couldn't be a more clear statement than Obadiah 12: "Do not gloat over your brother's day, the day of his misfortune. Yet, how many times do we do that. How many times do we rejoice with our enemy falls or those who are not members of our own cohort? Gloating over misfortune or pain or suffering or loss is not a Godly character quality. God is not pleased with any type of gloating. It pain's God to see the death of the loss. God does not take joy in the wicked's rejection of Him. He does rejoice that His plan is carreid out but gloating is not a Godly character quality. We would all benefit from learning how not to gloat ... of course, it is easier to say that after you lose than after you won.