Read Esther 1

Imagine the wealth of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes)... the lavish decorations, the gold, the fabrics, the gardens, the marble. It would have been something incredible to behold. Many times we like to imagine what it must be like to be rich and famous, but the King's party reveals something about him. The party was 180 days long and celebrated what? His own greatness... We live in a culture which is very much focused on self. And like it or not, we are rich. Compared to most people in the world, Americans are very wealthy. We often buy things that build ourselves up and show our status. And then in a moment of weakness (while he was drunk) the king became rather vulgar and decided that he wanted to parade his wife around. It might sound crazy to us, but how often do we belittle other people to make ourselves look good? The king didn't care what Vashti thought. He just wanted to show off some more. Sometimes we do this through a joke where we look really cool and funny at the expense of someone else. Our goal as Christians should be to serve others and humble ourselves rather than serving ourselves and building ourselves up. How are you doing with that? What might you do this week to grow in that area this week? Let's really be mindful of how we talk to one another and do our best to build each other up and serve one another in love.