August 31
The Opposite of Envy
A heart at peace gives life to the body,
but envy rots the bones. ––Proverbs 14:30
Envy is when you want what someone else has, but jealousy is when you’re worried someone’s trying to take what you have. ––Vocabulary.com
Jealousy sucks. I hate it in myself, and I most certainly hate it in others. It’s interesting how quick we are to deny jealousy when it rears its ugly green head. It’s nothing to be proud of, right?
Here’s the thing, men: If you are breathing, you have suffered from envy and jealousy. As you read that, did you say to yourself, Speak for yourself, Kenny. I don’t suffer from jealously. Really? Consider these scenarios:
The person who gets promoted ahead of you because the boss doesn’t know they’ve cheated their way to the top of the sales board.
The guy who constantly posts pics on the Gram of his exotic vacations from around the world.
The couple that falls backward into family money and seemingly has an easy life, while you struggle just to pay rent.
Jealousy is cunning; it sneaks up on us. In contrast, it’s more obvious cousin, anger, is easy to spot. But as the old saying goes, often times when we harbor anger toward someone, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” In other words, what we recognize as justified anger might be garden-variety jealousy. Here’s what James has to say about the subject:
But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. ––James 3:14-16
Strong words to define envy: bitter, selfish, denying the truth, earthly, unspiritual, demonic, disorderly, and evil. The problem, of course, is two-fold: We are often too embarrassed to admit we harbor envy toward someone, or we don’t see it in ourselves (only in others).
For God’s man, envy (coveting what someone else has) and jealousy (worried about losing something you have) are two sides of the same coin: Fear-driven emotions that maneuver for control in our hearts. So what’s the answer? James offers it in the next verse:
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. ––James 3:17-18
When we surrender our thoughts each day to the Holy Spirit, and invite “the wisdom that comes from heaven” to invade our hearts and minds, it brings a flood of godly fruit. Does it mean we will suddenly overcome every envious emotion that enters our minds? Probably not. But over time, it will—as James so hopefully points out—turn us into peacemakers who sow in peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.
Finally, here’s the nice surprise: the more you surrender envy and jealously, the less power people will have over you! That’s because the godly transformation that God is doing within you will cause you to care less about the world and your neighbor’s possessions, and more about His desires and will for you.
Lord, envy and jealousy are ugly emotions—please reveal to me areas or blind spots that need to be uprooted in my life. In their place, fill me with Your wisdom and the peace that passes understanding.