What do you envy?
- Michelle Wood: SWCD
- October 4, 2009
- 668
Envy, according to Webster's Dictionary, is the feeling of discontent and ill will because of another's advantages or possessions. In laymen's terms, do you wish you had someone else's stuff? I must admit, it is difficult to liken envy to words like murder, adultery, and theft. However, in a culture so consumed with greed and commercial gain, it is very easy to fall prey to this bitter four letter word.
The question most of us are wondering is this, "What is so bad about envy?" The other words speak for themselves as they harm other people, however, envy only damages oneself. This is just the problem, envy is cancerous. Jesus discusses lust and anger in depth in Matthew 5:21 – 30. Both instances are matters harbored deep within the human heart. When left undone, like cancer, they will destroy you. Envy and greed work the same way.
Envy is the conscience decision within your heart to crave what another person has. Maybe it is a possession, a lifestyle, a character trait, an appearance, a spouse, a family, or a checkbook. Whatever the case, when we envy, we crave something we do not have.
Proverbs 14:30 confronts envy, "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones."
When we envy another object, or another life, we are expressing our discontent for the life God has given. In other words, to envy is to express disapproval of God's will. When we envy another person's bank account, we are telling God that we are not happy with His providence. When we envy another person's appearance, we may as well tell Him that we do not like the work He did on our body.
Envy expresses our subtle discontent for God's work in our lives. In other words, envy is the passive aggressive way of telling God we wish He had made us another person. The problem is that God made you unique for a reason. Psalm 139 provides great detail as to the intricate design of our lives. Just as every life bears purpose, so also does our possessions and relationships. To envy another is to reject God's beautiful creation.
At its core, envy is the oldest sin known to man. When Eve was confronted in the Garden of Eden by the serpent, she was given a proposition, "Eat, and be like God." The heart of envy is pride. According to Isaiah 14, Satan wanted to be like God. The temptation of Eden was to be like God. Envy, at its core, is the desire to be like someone else.
Pride is, in fact, the threshold of greed and envy. It is a loophole that quickly takes each of us down a path we need not go. Along the way to envy and pride come compromise and unnecessary sacrifice. Our culture especially succumbs to failure in this category. When we want a possession badly enough, we go into debt to attain it, and strain ourselves beyond our means. If we desire to be around another person bad enough, we make excuses to jeopardize a marriage. If we want a particular look, we disregard the cost of attaining it. When we allow pride to flood our hearts, and envy to prevail, we find ourselves compromising our values to attain something we want.
The antithesis of pride and envy is to be content. First Timothy 6:6 says, "But godliness with contentment is great gain." The difference between contentedness and envy is easy to distinguish. To envy is to place trust in material possessions and gain. To be content is to trust God at His word. In the midst of economic turmoil or triumph, we will find that trusting God is the most reliable plan anyway.
Trevor is the Lead Minister at Millersburg Christian Church. Comments may be sent to trevorlittleton@yahoo.com.