April 11 – Envy Rots

“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”(Proverbs 14:30)

IN WORD:
Envy is a subtle enemy. We think we’re free from it, but it is often the silent root of our sins. We can make ungodly decisions because we want the quality of our lives to match that of our neighbors. We can make unwarranted judgements because we are compelled to mentally reduce other people in order to mentally enlarge ourselves. And we can avoid God’s plan for our lives because we want too strongly to fit into our culture. Our constant tendency is to compare ourselves to others, and comparison leads to envy. It affects the way we spend our money, our time, and our talents. It affects the careers we choose and the relationships we cultivate. Deep within us all is a drive to “make it,” to succeed well beyond the average person. We want success because we’ve seen others have it.
This envy-rooted drive for success-by-comparison carries many physical symptoms with it. It sucks us into a consuming “rat race,” a treadmill that undermines good health. It keeps us spending more than we have to spend, impressing more than we need to impress, and controlling more than is ours to control. It tells us that we’re never quite good enough and that there is always more to be done. It stresses us out.

IN DEED:
How do we get beyond such a corrosive attitude? There can be no room for envy when we measure ourselves by how God sees us rather than by how others see us. If we are all abject sinners saved by extravagant mercy, who is there to envy? Only those who have taken hold of God’s unfathomable grace, which is available in equal measure to all who will take hold of it.
If you are eaten away by the stress of the rat race, first recognize the envy that underlies it. Then try this: Perform one act per day that defies “success” as you once defined it. Choose not to impress someone; refuse to invest in an image; compliment someone you once judged. By all means, let your heart be at peace.

“Envy is a denial of providence.” -Stephen Charnock-