The destruction in envy

[TheOriginalWhitehorse]

I was thinking today about how self-destructive envy is. It's a desire for something someone else has, and on the surface, it may seem benign since it is common.

But envy is stemmed in malcontentedness over God's will or provision of, well, anything. If left to continue, it leads to:

1. Hate. This causes people to forsake God.
2. It robs people of joy because they can no longer see what God has given them, only what someone else has. This can never lead to any real, lasting happieness.
3. It causes people to make enemies out of friends, and friends out of enemies.
4. It causes people to make enemies out of those God may have sent as vessels of blessing, thus leaving them with more to regret and hate about their own circumstances.
5. It prevents people from seeing or making use of what they can do to improve their own circumstances or lives, since they are preoccupied with the lives of others.
6. It leads to every kind of sin in the book.
7. It is the sin that made devils out of angels.

Envy is dangerous stuff to dally with. It's like playing with dynamite.

 

[~Wisdom Seeker~]

One could say there is destruction in any negative emotion, thought or deed. Nevertheless, God designed us with negativity and put us in a negative environment that we fondly call the planet Earth. So there must be a purpose to God's design.

Do you think it may be because negativity teaches us things we need to learn better and faster than possitive things do? Why do you think the children of Israel are shown so much in the Bible as being deaply spiritual only to succomb to their human characteristics and backslide, only to be admonished, even punished into regainging the zeal with which they practice their faith.

I agree that envy can be destructive. But it can also be constructive. As all human emotion can...depending on the willingness of the individual that has them to learn from them whatever God had in mind that they should.

I for instance envy people who are learned. I don't hate them. But that envy does spurn me on to read and study everything I can get my hands on to not remain ignorant. Is that negative? No. But it is a possitive that came from a negative beginning.

God has a plan. And it's all in the Bible right? Do you think that God would admonish us not to do things that we would never do? No, of course not. We're guided to evolve spiritually. And sometimes that takes a negative catalyst.

 

[TheOriginalWhitehorse]

A lot of people struggle with this one. It's tough. But I'm not sure I see where you're coming from in saying God created us with negativity. I think we did that on our own when we sinned. God in His perfection doesn't sin in jealousy when His people follow after false gods, but it is extremely rare when envy is used only in the righteous sense by human beings.

Whether or not it is good to use envy as a catalyst really depends on what is in all our hearts. When I want to serve the Lord and I can see from my environment that I'm missing the mark somewhere, that is a motivation to serve God and there is no ill wishes toward those who inspire me. In fact, I feel love and try to learn as much as I can from them. But when I'm tired of my circumstances and see someone who doesn't share them, if I resent them for it or have negative feelings for them, then I am no longer acting in love.

Proverbs 14:30

14:30A tranquil heart is life to the body, but jealousy is rottenness to the bones. Holman Christian Standard Bible

Wow-it's that destructive! But I find in my own life that big problems start with small little thoughts that I failed to reject, either because I didn't pay attention to what I was thinking, or because it was somehow more satisfying to harbor the thought, or at times I actually rationalized the thought, actually thinking the Lord would agree with me! (It became clear later that He didn't.) Then later on I looked at the tree trunk in my spiritual yard and said, "How did that get here?"

 

[HisFireFly]

Thank you for your honest words! I too struggle with jealousy and envy and spend much time in repentance over the same.

I think that perhaps spiritual envy gets us into even more trouble than envy that is worldly. I'm speaking of the times we covet other people's spiritual giftings, ignoring the gifts that have been given to us instead of putting them to work for the Kingdom. How often must I recall:

"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the organs in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single organ, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those parts of the body which we think less honorable we invest with the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior part, that there may be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." (1 Corinthians 12:12-27)

Let us continue to spur each other to good works without the sins of jealousy and envy standing in our way.

HisFireFly

 

[but'n'ben]

I remember reading or hearing something somewhere...I forget where but it was a Christain who was listening to someone singing and thought to themself "I wish I could sing like that" and God said to them,

"Don't envy that person who is singing. I made her voice like that for you to enjoy, not for you to wish you were the same."

 

[Christ's Minister]

Envy is very different than admiration.Envy which is usually called by low self-esteem,causes people to covet which violates one of the ten commandments.Envy is a really nasty emotion that can lead to severe depression.Something to stay away from for sure.

 

[angel-of-archs]

im getting tired of this time on earth so we can stop struggling and defet satan 1nce and for all,this is becoming to much to bear,so mant complaints are going on, and wanna get rid as much as the next "most demon-hater"

 

[SnowDove]

Points 3 and 4 really stuck out at me...it's so true...and yet usually unrecognized. Thanks for sharing...it's an awesome reminder.

 

[~Wisdom Seeker~]

But I'm not sure I see where you're coming from in saying God created us with negativity.

God in His perfection doesn't sin

but it is extremely rare when envy is used only in the righteous sense by human beings.

Whether or not it is good to use envy as a catalyst really depends on what is in all our hearts. ...there is no ill wishes toward those who inspire me. In fact, I feel love and try to learn as much as I can from them.

Maybe this verse will help you see where I'm coming from:
[bible]John 1:3[/bible]
Everything means everything. If you are to believe that the Bible is true, then you would have to believe this verse is true too.

We're not talking about God's perfection, we're talking about God's creation. God set the stage and was and is in control of every possible outcome because God knew/knows the outcome before it happened(s). If we are to believe that God is omnicient, then we must believe this. Remember time has no relevance to God.

You say "inspire" and I say "envy". Some say a person is "obnoxious" while others say they're "passionate". Some say someone is "too emotional" while others say they are "not emotionally constipated or an unfeeling automoton" When you put a possitive spin on a negative word, the thing that is different is your perspective.

It is good to take the negative and use it to learn and grow. Talk to anyone who's had trials in their life. They either let it defeat them or they useed it to learn and grow.

That's all I'm saying. If you don't use lifes negativity to learn and grow....you're missing the whole point why any of us are here.

 

[TheOriginalWhitehorse]

Oh, okay-I think I see what you're saying. I think the scripture is in reference to the created world, but I can certainly see how God can redeem a situation and make it into something else. He's really great that way. Tha's a good thing to remember, too. Although I still wouldn't advise envy because of the other scriptures that talk about it specifically, but yes-you're right. A healthy admiration can be the road to divine blessing. Amen.

 

[whatseekye]

I think envy is very ugly and is not consistent with a Christ-like attitude. I know it's ugly because when I see it in myself, it's very ugly indeed. Only be rejecting envious thoughts and refusing to fall in line with rationalizations that tell you you are justified in thinking that way, then you can find the relief of being glad for other people's blessings. I went through this and was glad to see a breakthrough in my heart. I don't want to be fleshly, always seeking my own benefit. I want to have true humility where I can esteem others, at least equally to myself, and to be glad for them and love them.

 

[nhzname]

One could say there is destruction in any negative emotion, thought or deed. Nevertheless, God designed us with negativity and put us in a negative environment that we fondly call the planet Earth. So there must be a purpose to God's design.

I agree that envy can be destructive. But it can also be constructive. As all human emotion can...depending on the willingness of the individual that has them to learn from them whatever God had in mind that they should.

I don't believe that God designed us with negativity. I believe that our perfect God only creates perfecton; but unfortunately for us, we are born into sin, so from the beginning of conception, the destruction begins.

Envy is a sinful act (Galatians 5:19-21) therefore it is not something God designs in us. It is an emotional reaction that we have control over. Thankfully, by His grace, God takes even the negative and works it out for our good, knowing that sometimes, the only way we will learn is through mistakes.