Do Not Envy

(Psalms 49:16-20) Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him. For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed --and though you get praise when you do well for yourself-- his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light. Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

(1 Peter 2:1-3) So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation-- if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Envy is one of those very subtle sins that creeps into believers lives slowly, many times unnoticed at first. It is another one of the enemy's favorite tactics. It plants itself and then begins to grow, also very slowly. It begins to bear fruit like discontentment, attitudes of entitlement, and eventually frustration and anger towards man and God. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Church in Rome, groups envy with murder, strife, deceit, and maliciousness.

Envy is the antithesis of longing for the purity of God's Word. As newborn babies cry out for milk, believers long for and desire either what God has for them or what they see that others have and they do not. Remember that what God has in store for you is eternal; meaning that you will have it and it will be part of you forever. That which you seek outside of God's will is temporal and will draw you away from and distract you from your real treasure which is what God's intends for you.

Do not envy others or what they have. Be ever thankful for what God has given you, ever mindful of how blessed you are, and cry for more of God's will in your life.

Questions For Discussion

What is some of the fruit that envy bear?

What is the opposite of envy?

Why is what God has for you always better than what you do not have?