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This Is Envy
And I saw all achievement and all labor that sprung from man’s envy of his neighbor. - Ecclesiastes 4:4 (NIV)
All blessings are from God. Sometimes, we receive his gifts gratefully: a promotion, a redeemed relationship, beauty, wealth, a baby, opportunities, a favor...the list goes on. When others are blessed by God, sometimes we’re grateful for them too.
But at other times, we envy. In scripture, envy is about discontentment and rivalry that breaks down relationships. It starts with comparing what they have to what you lack. Temptation whispers, “Why do they have that and I don’t?” and the envious heart responds, “Why not me, Lord?”
Envy Compares
Sadly, I have heard these confessions from countless women: “Comparisons are really depressing me lately,” or “Why can’t my husband be like hers?” or “I'm unhappy because my life doesn’t look like hers.” My own envy has sounded like, “Why can’t my body bounce back like hers?”
Envy Kills
Everyone in our lives possesses something we don’t. We often secretly resent their blessings. I have envied friends’ weight loss, vacations, or nearby grandparents. My envy has threatened those relationships. When we stew on what we don’t have, we waste away, for “envy rots the bones” (Prov. 14:30).
Envy is Evil
Envy is selfish and resentful and is often joined by jealousy and coveting. "For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice" (James 3:14-16).
In scripture, envy is about discontentment and rivalry that breaks down relationships.
Friends, I ask you, who do you envy? Does your heart secretly despise him or her for what he or she has? Are you hard hearted, avoiding close conversation that may disclose your secret envy?
God wants us to be thankful, not to focus on gifts, but the Giver. Jesus is the greatest treasure any of us enjoy. Because of his glorious death and resurrection, we can all be saved from evil envy that robs our hearts of peace.
Let’s not just call it comparison. Let’s call it what it is—envy.