Proverbs 23:17 (AMP) Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord all the day long.
Psalms 73:3-7 (NLT) For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness.4 They seem to live such painless lives; their bodies are so healthy and strong.5 They don’t have troubles like other people; they’re not plagued with problems like everyone else.6 They wear pride like a jeweled necklace and clothe themselves with cruelty.7 These fat cats have everything their hearts could ever wish for!
Envy: “painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage” Merriam-Webster
“Envy can also derive from a sense of low self-esteem that results from an upward social comparison threatening a person's self-image: another person has something that the envier considers to be important to have. If the other person is perceived to be similar to the envier, the aroused envy will be particularly intense, because it signals to the envier that it just as well could have been he or she who had the desired object.” --Wikipedia
One aspect of envy is covetousness. Notice the similarities in the definition. “having or showing a great desire to possess something, typically something belonging to someone else.” Here is a familiar example. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Exodus 20:17
Allowing envy to take hold of our emotions will certainly have a negative affect on the closeness and sanctity of our relationships. In the Book of Genesis envy is said to be the motivation behind Cain murdering his brother, Abel, as Cain envied Abel because God favored Abel's sacrifice over Cain's. [see Genesis 4:3-8]
Paul writes that those who give themselves to envy are, “still [unspiritual, having the nature] of the flesh [under the control of ordinary impulses]. For as long as [there are] envying and jealousy and wrangling and factions among you, are you not unspiritual and of the flesh, behaving yourselves after a human standard and like mere (unchanged) men? “ 1Corinthians 3.3 (AMP)
Envy is a condition of the heart that rises up eventually defiling the whole person. Mark 7.20-23 (AMP) And He said, What comes out of a man is what makes a man unclean and renders [him] unhallowed.21 For from within, [that is] out of the hearts of men, come base and wicked thoughts, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, adultery,22 Coveting (a greedy desire to have more wealth), dangerous and destructive wickedness, deceit; unrestrained (indecent) conduct; an evil eye (envy), slander (evil speaking, malicious misrepresentation, abusiveness), pride (the sin of an uplifted heart against God and man), foolishness (folly, lack of sense, recklessness, thoughtlessness).23 All these evil [purposes and desires] come from within, and they make the man unclean and render him unhallowed.
Envy is listed among the many sins that will separate us from God for and eternity. Every aspect of this cancerous growth MUST be thoroughly rooted out or it will take our lives.
Galatians 5:19-21 (NKJV) 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,21 ENVY, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (emphasis added)
Heavenly Father, help me not to compare myself or any aspect of my life, possessions, achievements, lack or failures with others. Guard my heart against the evils of envy. Help me to be truly thankful and content with what You have given me in life. Amen
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