Comparison and envy. Thank goodness Christians don’t have to deal with that stuff. Right? Because comparison kills creativity. And envy kills joy. Matter of fact, it even kills people. Yikes!
It’s not an exaggeration to say envy kills joy and people.
You can find it in one of the oldest books of the Bible, in Job, where it says, “For wrath kills a foolish man, And envy slays a simple one.”
Solomon, who at one point in time was considered the wisest man, wrote this: “A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones.”
Even when you dive into the book of Acts, in the New Testament, it pops up again: “…when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul.”
I’d say those three examples show how envy kills joy. And those aren’t, by any means, the only examples I could share. But I think you get the point. Right?
Envy bad.
I read somewhere (probably on social media) where social media often leads Christians to compare their lives, ministries, or spiritual journeys with others. And it added how that “fosters envy or feelings of inadequacy when seeing curated, idealized posts.”
So. Envy is like poison.
But just like with other poisons, there’s an antidote. Thank God.
You can find a recipe for the antidote in lots of forms throughout the best selling book of all time. Yeah, the Bible. I believe the easiest form of the recipe is found in one of the two Commandments Jesus said, supersede the others. And, of course, that commandment is.” love your neighbor as yourself.”
It’s amazing, but not surprising, how much and how often the theme of love comes up throughout the Bible. You owe every second of your life to love. I do too. But not just any love. Because not just any love could hold the trillions of cells in your body together. Let alone all the material that makes up the universe.
But God’s love can do that. And more.
You’re free to not give it another thought today. And you’re even free to ignore His love your entire life, and be separated from Him and everyone who loves Him, forever. But I don’t recommend that choice. Because I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if you ended up in the whirlpool of envy. And you remember? What envy does, right?
Yeah, and kills joy.