Envy is a negative emotion characterized by being resentful or unhappy over what someone else has and wishing to have those same things. We struggle with envy too often. Why can’t we have a bigger house, a nicer car, nicer clothes, an exciting vacation or a better-paying job? Social media aids in our having such desires. We feel cheated because our lives seem so unfulfilled compared to those of others. Since other people’s problems are not usually on display, we tend to believe they have none. It makes it easier to envy them.
James said there is no wisdom in harboring envy. “Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice” (James 3:15,16 NIV1984).It distorts the truth and causes bitterness and anger. It steals a person’s joy and affects her walk with Christ.
Envy is the root of all hatred. Cain killed Abel because God accepted his brother’s offering over his own. Esau was filled with murderous rage against his twin brother, Jacob, who stole his birthright as the firstborn son of their father, Isaac. Did not Saul’s envy cause him to seek David’s life?
Envy destroys love for others. It ruins a Christian’s testimony. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud” (I Cor. 13:4). You cannot love and envy at the same time.
Solomon said, “A heart of peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones” (Prov. 14:30).A heart of peace is not self-seeking. It is happy when others succeed and sad when others are sad. It feels no ill-will against those who “seem” to prosper more.
Would more money make you content? If you were given a talent or an outgoing personality of someone else, would you finally know true happiness? No! Longing for what others have leads to feelings of bitterness and resentment. Comparison to others can also make one feel inferior and lead one to believe they have little value. If left unchecked, one’s mental and physical health is at risk. It will also alienate families and friends and destroy a close relationship with the Lord.
The sin of envy takes our focus off God. We lose sight of his countless blessings freely and lovingly given to us. Do we trust His wisdom in our lives? Of God, Isaiah wrote: “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you” (Isa. 26:3).Don’t doubt God’s goodness. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, doming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).Are not God’s gifts far superior to anything we might desire of other persons?
In Psalm 139:14-18, David explains why we are special to God — and certainly not inferior. “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well… when I was woven together in the depth of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!… Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of the sand…”
When envy slowly erupts, as it surely will, ask God to change your heart. Remember the words of this song. “Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”
