Envy

Envy

7 Verses on Envy
1. “You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:17)
2. “Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD” (Proverbs 23:17)
3. “Envy rots the bones” (Proverbs 14:30)
4. “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice” (James 3:16)
5. “For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him” (Matthew 27:18)
6. “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill” (Philippians 1:15)
7. “And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 4:4)

7 Quotes on Envy
1. “Where there is no comparison, no envy.” (Francis Bacon)
2. “Envy consists in seeing things never in themselves, but only in their relations. If you desire glory, you may envy Napoleon, but Napoleon envied Caesar, Caesar envied Alexander, and Alexander, I daresay, envied Hercules, who never existed.” (Bertrand Russell)
3. “Envy is the art of counting the other fellow's blessings instead of your own.” (Harold Coffin)
4. “When we Envy someone, we tend to magnify that person’s good fortune while at the same time minimizing our own” (Will Willimon)
5. “Most of the other Seven can be fun, let’s admit it… But who enjoys Envy, even for a moment?” (Will Willimon)
6. “Envy debilitates its host. Indeed, of all the sins, Envy seems to be its own punishment” (Will Willimon)
7. “I would guess that at least eighty percent of our criticisms of others have their roots in Envy.” (Will Willimon)

Envy, as Solomon pointed out, sometimes breeds achievement. But at what cost? And are achievements motivated by envy the kinds of achievements that bring lasting happiness? More often, envy simply produces sadness and not satisfaction. Willimon says that, “Envy debilitates its host. Indeed, of all the sins, envy seems to be its own punishment.” Certainly envy is the least pleasurable of all the Seven Deadly Sins.

Robin rightly pointed out, in his comment about pride, that it has less to do with thinking too highly about oneself and more to do with thinking about oneself too much! Indeed, Christians are called to think of others. In a sense, though, envy is the distortion of that aim, for in envy we are so focused on what others have that we neglect to be thankful for what we ourselves have. Even still, it is connected to pride in that we think we deserve what they have (and, perhaps too, that they don't deserve it!).

The Bible commands us not to envy, mostly because God knows how destructive it is. Envy rots the bones. It is the slow and silent killer. Envy led to the first murder. And envy was the emotion that led the Jewish authorities to want Jesus dead. Obviously, then, we need to overcome envy before it gains a foothold in our lives. But how? Stop comparing. Be content. Be zealous for God instead of stuff. All good answers, but easier said than done.

And so, once again, it seems to me that the deadly sin of envy provokes us to be people of prayerful repentance. As we repent, God teaches us to love our neighbors and our enemies so much that the latter becomes the former in our hearts.