Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
-1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NKJV)
-1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NKJV)
“Love does not envy.” Wow, these four words pierce my heart as I think of how envious I have been of others throughout my life. Envy and I were the best of friends before I was walking with the Lord; I spent a large chunk of my life being envious and jealous of pretty much everyone and anyone. My relationship with envy allowed little room for anything else in my life; envy had pushed out my joy and love for others and I found myself filled with an anger, bitterness and resentment that practically consumed me.
It is so easy to allow envy to creep in and begin to push out love, for the two cannot peacefully co-exist. You cannot truly love and envy at the same time; love does not envy. One of them must go and if left undetected, envy can take hold and begin to devour you without you even realizing it. We have been given example upon example in the Bible of how envy can destroy; just look at Cain and Able or King Saul and David. Envy drove Cain to kill his own brother and King Saul sought the life of his faithful servant David who was also his daughter’s husband and his son’s best friend. And we are given yet another example of envy in Mark 15:10 when the chief priests had handed Jesus over to Pilate to be crucified, “For he (Pilate) knew that the chief priests had handed Him (Jesus) over because of envy.”
From these examples, it is easy to see that envy is not of God, but where does it come from? James 3:13-16 answers this question quite nicely, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in you hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.” So, bitter envy and self-seeking is a heart condition that is earthly and demonic. Like all conditions of the heart that are not of God, envy is sin and only Christ can cleanse us from our sin and wash us white as snow.
While envy and I are no longer friends, I must admit that envy does come to visit every now and again, hoping to rekindle that old friendship. It is funny; the things you, or rather I, start to envy when it is given a place to dwell; the neighbors with the perfectly manicured lawn, the woman whose house is immaculately clean and organized all the time, the natural physique the woman who looks like she did even before having 6 kids, and even the talents and spiritual gifts of my brothers and sisters in Christ. Yes, if given a chance, envy can pop up almost anywhere. But through prayer and a steady diet of God’s word, the Spirit will convict us and lead us to repentance that we may be made clean through the blood of Jesus Christ and not be destroyed by our bitter envy and self-seeking hearts. Therefore, it is only through the redemption of Christ are we able to love, for love does not envy.
It is so easy to allow envy to creep in and begin to push out love, for the two cannot peacefully co-exist. You cannot truly love and envy at the same time; love does not envy. One of them must go and if left undetected, envy can take hold and begin to devour you without you even realizing it. We have been given example upon example in the Bible of how envy can destroy; just look at Cain and Able or King Saul and David. Envy drove Cain to kill his own brother and King Saul sought the life of his faithful servant David who was also his daughter’s husband and his son’s best friend. And we are given yet another example of envy in Mark 15:10 when the chief priests had handed Jesus over to Pilate to be crucified, “For he (Pilate) knew that the chief priests had handed Him (Jesus) over because of envy.”
From these examples, it is easy to see that envy is not of God, but where does it come from? James 3:13-16 answers this question quite nicely, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in you hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.” So, bitter envy and self-seeking is a heart condition that is earthly and demonic. Like all conditions of the heart that are not of God, envy is sin and only Christ can cleanse us from our sin and wash us white as snow.
While envy and I are no longer friends, I must admit that envy does come to visit every now and again, hoping to rekindle that old friendship. It is funny; the things you, or rather I, start to envy when it is given a place to dwell; the neighbors with the perfectly manicured lawn, the woman whose house is immaculately clean and organized all the time, the natural physique the woman who looks like she did even before having 6 kids, and even the talents and spiritual gifts of my brothers and sisters in Christ. Yes, if given a chance, envy can pop up almost anywhere. But through prayer and a steady diet of God’s word, the Spirit will convict us and lead us to repentance that we may be made clean through the blood of Jesus Christ and not be destroyed by our bitter envy and self-seeking hearts. Therefore, it is only through the redemption of Christ are we able to love, for love does not envy.
COACH'S CALL TO ACTION
- Pray and ask the Lord to reveal any bitter envy in your heart.
- Where do you see bitter envy in your life? Who is it that you envy?
- Pray and ask the Lord to forgive you of your bitter envy and to replace that envy with love; that you would love as Christ loves, without bitter envy and a self-seeking heart.
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