“Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines envy in this way. “To feel uneasiness, mortification or discontent at the sight of superior excellence, reputation, or happiness enjoyed by another.” And this, “To fret or grieve one’s self at the real or supposed superiority of another, and to hate him on that account.” And worst of all this, “Pain, uneasiness, mortification or discontent excited by the sight of another’s superiority or success, accompanied with some degree of hatred or malignity, and often or usually with a desire or effort to depreciate that person and with pleasure in seeing him depressed.” WOW!

Did we think that envy could actually be THAT harmful? I don’t think we do. Personally, I’ve always thought that Cain was envious of Abel. If we look back at the definitions, we can see Cain’s actions being described there. But are we that guilty?

When someone else is chosen for a job, when another friend gets a promotion when your neighbor’s business hits an all-time high…How do you feel? What thoughts begin to surface? Do you think you were more deserving? More competent? Smarter? Possess more Humility? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist that one😉)It is normal to desire to be “chosen”. How then do we go off track?

As I have gotten older, I’m more and more convinced that our dear Abba God has a special purpose and place for us all. He created us to worship Him forever. We are dear and precious to Him just as we are. We each have a purpose in this life, maybe to our eyes it looks large or maybe small, but in God’s kingdom, I believe the gifting and the purpose He has for us cannot be compared. Oh, we do compare. We decide what the better gift or job or ministry is but our Abba does not see as we do. Everything works together to build His kingdom. It is not our place to define “better “.

But we do. We want the position or the attention or the friendship or the money or whatever. We don’t trust the true and living God to run this world. We don’t trust Him to know what is best and certainly not what is best for us. So we march up to the throne of whatever it is we desire, knock the poor person out of their place, and put ourselves where we don’t belong. We replace what God has chosen with ourself. That scares me to death.

I think envy happens when we look at what Abba has done for another and want it for ourselves. We forget Who we are (God’s children) and desire like spoiled children what we could never handle.

The best antidote for envy is forgetting ourselves. Remembering Who our Father is. Remembering what He has prepared for us. Trusting Him. Loving His children.

Turn our hearts. Let’s rejoice with those that rejoice. It is a great joy to see others know good success… To watch families, children, and grandchildren get launched out into life and succeed in fulfilling the purposes our Abba created them for.

The Word tells us to “guard our hearts”…for good reason. “Stinky stuff” can slip in unawares. Dear ones, we are too precious to give ourselves to something as ugly as envy.