Just last week I heard a conversation at work that reminds me of this verse. One person was excitedly asking a coworker if she'd seen the email that said they'd won an award. The reply was, "well it was good for you, but they didn't even notice my contribution." While many of us wouldn't actually say something like this it is quite possible that we might feel it. It can be difficult to see someone else getting accolades for something in which you invested a lot of time and energy.
Envy can be a joy sapper. When expressed it can effectively dampen the spirits of the entire room. But more than what it does to others is what it does to the envious person. Much like holding on to a grudge, it effectively imprisons the happy emotions of the person feeling envy. It is very difficult to feel envious and at the same time feel happy and carefree.
There are lots of circumstances in which we might be tempted to feel envious. Perhaps your friend gets married and you don’t. You’ve known this friend a long time perhaps, and now that person is getting married and you’re not. You could start to feel a little resentful that it happened to him or her and yet it hasn’t happened to you.
Or say you have a child who is chronically sick while the other families around you always seem to be healthy. You could think, “My child is always sick. My child gets sick week in and week out and has these extraordinary problems; but these other families, who are no better than ours, are always well.”
Maybe you’re on the second string of your school sports team. All you do is warm the bench, while the guy on first string, even though he’s such a smart-aleck, gets to play all the time.
The answer lies in 1 Cor. 13:4. Love. Choose to love that person of whom you have feelings of envy. Easy? No.Worth the payoff? Definitely! It is difficult to love and be envious in the same moment. I find when I have thoughts and feelings that are unloving that if I consciously turn my thoughts to the Philippians 4:8 list and start thinking the things about that person that are noble, pure, lovely, and admirable it is easier to choose to love. Now sometimes we are stuck so deep in the negative that we can't even think of anything positive about that person. Start praying a blessing over them. Pray for God to bless their family, their work, their home. Pray for God to bless their finances. Pray for Him to give them success in everything they put their hand to. Feel like that's being fake? Not at all. You can be honest with God. He knows how you're feeling anyway. Say, "God, this is the way I am feeling, but I am asking You to bless them anyway." Then just start praying that blessing.
This is the great thing about God's Word--when we obey His instructions He then starts pouring out blessings on us. How wonderful to go from feeling envious, gut-rotting emotions to feeling love and blessing.
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