The Dark Side of Green (With Envy that is)

***Before I start let me apologize for the no-spacing format. I have no idea why it’s doing this. But, I’m posting anyway rather than wait and I’ll try to find out the solution soon. Sorry! Hope you enjoy this anyway.

Last week I talked about the “I deserve it” mentality.  If “I deserve it” is the entitlement child, today’s topic, jealousy, is her evil twin. There’s a Spanish proverb that says: “Envy is thin because it bites but never eats.”

How easy it is to get sucked into the sickly, green muck of jealousy.  We are constantly exposed to a barrage of greed, goaded into lusting after the unending bombardment of colorful, enticing possibilities dangled before us through various mediums: t.v., magazines, billboards, even our own neighbors and friends.  The temptation to always want more walks hand in hand with envying those who have “the more” we desire.

So what’s wrong with wanting what someone else has?

Well:

1) It’s a sin against others

2) It’s a sin against ourselves

3) It’s a sin against God

It’s been said, “There are many roads to hate, but envy is the shortest of them all.”

As the gap between those who “have” and those who “have-not” grows, if we are not careful we all could take on the mind-set of the “have-nots”, where the propensity for jealousy could grow from petty to dangerous under the right circumstances.

Say, we finally achieve that something we have desperately wanted and worked for and we are  ecstatic!  Until, that is, we see someone who gets something bigger, shinier, more prestigious, or better.  And all that ecstasy is drowned in the mire of jealousy, twisting inside of us where it labors, giving birth to those dark children of resentment, anger, and in some cases, even violence.  “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” (James 3:16)  Jealousy is never satisfied.

And the Enemy laughs.

There’s a reason God warns, even commands us not to covet or envy others. (Deut 5:21).  Again through Proverbs 14:30 we are taught: “A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.”  Jealousy is detrimental to our health (spiritual as well as physical).

Envy just eats away at the one who envies.  We can just feel it can’t we?  That headache, that stomach acid churning away. Keep it up and it becomes a cancer; a cancer that given the opportunity of time and intensity, grows and metastasizes to our brains, our hearts, our very actions.  And like the Energizer Bunny it just “keeps going and going and going . . .”

Jealousy is the bile that rises and doesn’t abate, leaving a sour, bitter taste in our mouths, burning more the more it is produced.  Can we say stress?  High blood pressure?  Ulcers, anyone?

Logically, jealousy doesn’t even make any sense. For every object of our jealousy brings its own stress or stressors: a bigger, nicer car means higher costs in maintainance and repairs.  Our lusting for a higher paying job most likely means more hours and more anxiety for that person.  We hunger for that jewelry, that painting, home, or fame, without recognizing that along with those “goodies” comes the insurance, worries, and security needed to maintain and protect those things. For instance,  many people who have won the lottery have later had major regrets about winning as they watched their lives and families unravel due to their sudden windfall and the accompanying conflicts and complications.

Even in noble endeavors, we find envy.  Perhaps we’ve thought, “Oh, if I just had his/her Christian ministry!”  The truth is we have no idea what that ministry costs them in terms of time, prayer, sacrifice, work, and who knows what else?  Would we really be ready to pay that price?  Besides this, we are not that person.  Our lives, places, and ministries will be as individual as we are. God has a plan for every individual according to His own Purpose.

And lastly, jealousy is the antithesis to trusting God.

It is an insult to the Character of God. We’re telling Him that He doesn’t know best, or He’s somehow dropped the ball or “just doesn’t get it”.  God in His Wisdom knows exactly what we need and what we can handle.    If we have committed our lives to Him, we have to trust that He has put us where we need to be.  That may change over time but wherever we are, we are there for a reason: maybe to learn a lesson, maybe He is protecting us from unknown calamity, maybe He wants to refocus us on His priorities and not our own (although His should be our’s!).

When I get jealous, it sickens me.  I hate this sin in myself.  So, what is the panacea for envy?

Well, for me, the answer is gratitude!  When I am lying in bed at night, feeling sorry for myself over something and jealous over someone else having what I think I want, I try to remember the habit of thankfulness (I say try because it’s regrettably not automatic yet . . . I’m still a work in progress – sigh).  I’ll start thanking God for everything, such as  my soft bed and a roof over my head that keeps me safe and dry.  And I remember how very many don’t have the simplest of things that I have and take for granted.  Everything we have is a gift from God, beginning with our very lives.  We should be praising Him for the privilege of being birthed into this world to learn to love and serve Him.  And most of all for His inexorable Love for us!

We must remember too: we are not helpless.  We are  overcomers in Christ.  God has given us His Power to resist satan and say no to this deadly sin of jealousy!

So, when the “green-eyed monster” stirs, go out and do something for someone else, maybe for someone who has less than we do materially.  Get to know them. I learned a lot about this while counseling residents  in nursing homes.  You might just find, as I did, that what we think of as an inferior life style is in truth, richer than ours; these “unfortunates”  just might possess the more important things, the things of God: contentment, peace, love, gratitude, and a generous spirit.  No matter what our standing in life, we can all learn and grow from each other.

And let’s remember together:

“Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.  For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you’.” (Hebrews 13:5)

How could we want anymore than that?

Dear Lord,

Forgive us our jealousies. And thank You for Your patience with us. Help us to be truly content and thankful for all You give us, most especially for Your Love. Help us to look around and focus not on ourselves, but on sharing Your Love with others and bringing them into Your Kingdom.

In the Name of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ,

Amen.

                                                                                                                                         

Peace and God’s Blessings,

Devoted to Yeshua