Lesson 47

Envy can be defined as:
"the feeling of discontent or displeasure produced by witnessing or hearing of the excellence or advantage or prosperity of others, with a desire for such excellence, advantage or prosperity."

Two Greek words are used to describe envy, namely, PHTHONOS and ZELOS [Strong's # 5355 and # 2205; Vine's Expository Dictionary, pg. 37].

PHTHONOS is always translated in an evil sense as envy, as in Matthew 27:18; Mark 15:10; Romans 1:29; Galatians 5:21; Philippians 1:15; 1 Timothy 6:4; Titus 3:3; 1 Peter 2:1.

On the other hands, ZELOS or the verb ZELOO can be translated as a good attitude, including

However, ZELOS can be translated as an evil attitude, including

E.g. The Jews were jealous of the preaching of the word of God by Paul and Barnabus to a big crowd of Jews and Gentiles at Pisidian Antioch, and out of envy, disrupted his meeting.

On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with ENVY; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul.                                                                    (Acts 13:44-45)

Upon analysis, a person who is envious of another is seen to possess the following attitude:

A person who is envious is unhappy with the blessings that he sees in others.
He is not contented with what he has, and desires what sees in the lives of others.

We can be envious of the material possessions of others, of their position in life, of their status, of their children's well-being, of their abilities, of their position in the church, of their ministry to the body of Christ, or of God's blessings upon their lives.

A person who is envious of another will show it in his remarks, especially in the intonation of his words, although he may deny he is envious.

Examples of envious remarks are as follows:
"He thinks he can sing and lead well; I can also do the same or even better!"

"I can prophesy like him also, maybe even better!"

"Why did our Pastor appoint him as the Assistant Pastor or Cell Group Coordinator? Why not me?"

"Honey, why don't we get a wide-screen TV like Nancy's. I am sure we can scrape enough for a down-payment and get one soon."

Desire can be good, when we desire things in the will of God, e.g. the desire for spiritual gifts, the desire to put God's kingdom first.

E.g. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:1,
"Follow the way of love and eagerly desire [Greek ZELOO] spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy."

E.g. The Lord Jesus was "consumed with zeal [Greek ZELOS] for his Father's house" (John 2:17).

However, when we desire things with a wrong attitude, being discontented with what we have, and being unhappy with other people's blessings, we have moved from desire to envy or covetousness.
And envy is a sin in God's sight (Exodus 20:17; Romans 13:13).

"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)

Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and ENVY.                          (Romans 13:13)

Envy, being a sin, will bring disruption and destruction to a person's life, family, ministry and to the body of Christ, if it is nursed and harbored in the heart.

We must be willing to recognize and acknowledge envy in our own lives whenever it seeks to arise, quickly reject it and repent of it, and learn to give thanks to God for what He has already given to us and to others.

The destructive consequences of envy are many, including the following:

The word of God declares us that envy will bring death: physical, mental and spiritual death, when we allow it to creep into our heart.

Resentment kills  a fool,
     and envy slays the simple.                                                                 (Job 5:2)

Envious thoughts sap us of energy, which is used wrongly to focus on things out of God's will.
Envy grieves the Holy Spirit, and destroys our peace.
Envy opens a door to the devil to bring destruction to our relationships with others.
Envy stops the flow of God's blessings into our lives.
Envy can lead to murder, rebellion and family destruction.

E.g. In Numbers 16, Korah, Dathan and Abiram rose up against the leadership of Moses and Aaron, because they envied the leadership of Moses and the priesthood of Aaron.
The rebels felt that they also can be leaders like Moses and be priests like Aaron because they declared that everyone is holy before God, which is true.
(However, they did not realize that though all of us are holy, everyone of us have different ministries as assigned by God.)

The rebels said thus to Moses and Aaron.

"You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD's assembly?"                                                    (Numbers 16:3)

In turn, Moses accused Korah and the rebels of envy and unlawful desire for the priesthood. Moses said:

He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too."                                (Numbers 16:10)

In the end, God vindicated Moses and Aaron and judged the rebels, destroying them and their families, together with 14,700 others who sympathized with the rebels  (Numbers 16:31-35, 49).

Envy will bring sickness to the soul and the body, causing mental confusion and physical diseases.

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

The bone is the site where the blood cells of the body are formed, and God as declared that the life of a person is in his blood (Leviticus 17:11,14).
Thus if a person's bones rot because of envy, diseases will set in, and his life will wither away.

James declared that envy comes not from God but from the devil, and that it will lead to disorder [confusion, KJV] and every evil practice (James 3:14-16).

But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is EARTHLY, UNSPIRITUAL, OF THE DEVIL. For where you have ENVY and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.                                                                  (James 3:14-16)

When envy begins to manifest in a family or church member, we must quickly counsel the person concerned and point out its demonic source.
If allowed to fester, envy can lead to gossip, resentment, bitterness, slander, spite, malice (ill-will), disorder, confusion, rebellion, strife, anger, murder, and every evil practice.

God has set his order in the church by giving everyone a unique calling.
All of us must learn to fulfill that calling in our life.
This fulfillment of this calling constitute our ministry.
When we are envious of the callings and giftings of others, we are telling God that He is unfair and unwise in giving to others what should have been given to us.
This gives rise to disorder in the family and church, and allows the devil to destroy our family and church.

God commands us not to envy others.
It is a command we must obey, to please God and walk in his perfect will.
We must always be vigilant against the subtle feelings of envy that often seek to arise when we see others with better giftings and advantages than us.

We must remain sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit whenever he convicts us of the sin of envy, and quickly repent.
We must die to envy and all of its manifestations, including gossip, slander, bitterness, back-biting, malice, and even murder, denying it in our own lives and not encouraging it in others.

Knowing the following revelation concerning the blessings tat God has bestowed on us and on others will help us to keep away from envy and keep us moving in the will of God.

Every one of us have a calling of God upon our lives that is different from others.
And God have given each of us a unique mix of gifts to fulfill that calling.
Each of us thus have a unique ministry in the body of Christ, as appointed by God (1 Corinthians 12:18).

Similarly, each local church has a unique mix of ministries that make its different from every other church in terms of ministry types, strengths and emphasis.

No particular ministry is better than that of another.
No particular church is better than another.
Your ministry and the ministry of your church is as important to the body of Christ as the ministry of another believer or of another church.
Every ministry is special and is to be honored in the body of Christ.

Therefore, we should never be envious of the giftings and ministry that God has given to someone else.
It is God's sovereign right and prerogative to give a special mix of gifts to a particular believer so that he can fulfill the calling God has placed upon him.

E.g. If you have the ministry of an evangelist, there is no need to be envious of the sister who is able to sing beautifully and minister to God and his people.
She has the ministry of an encourager and a psalmist.
Be satisfied with the gifts of healings and the gift of the working of miracles that is manifesting in your ministry.
Press more into God's calling upon your life and seek for a greater anointing (power of the Holy Spirit) when you minister healing, miracle-working power, and the preaching of his gospel.
It is alright if you do not sing well and lose track of the beat and rhythm every time you sing.
Praise God for what you have.

The ministry that God has called you into is the best for you at that point of your life.
And the giftings that you have received from God through the Holy Spirit is more than sufficient for you to fulfill your calling.

Likewise, it is God who has set up the ministry of every individual in the church for our common good (1 Corinthians 12:7).

We must accept one another's ministries and rejoice in each others callings, each with its own unique mix of gifts.
Each ministry has been raised up by God to bless the body of Christ.
As we accept one another's ministry, we will be blessed (Matthew 10:41).
There is no need and no place for envy, jealousy or discontent in the kingdom of God, when we see another believer with a successful ministry.

Each believer should thank God for the blessings he is already enjoying, including forgiveness of sins, righteousness of God, eternal life, joy, peace, fellowship with brothers-in-Christ, health and healing, wealth and riches, gifts of the Holy Spirit, etc.

God's word declares that

"Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.                              (1 Timothy 6:6-8)

If we are not content with what we have at present, we will tend to be envious when we see others better off.

Nonetheless, we can always ask God for more.
If we should be lacking in any area of our lives, we can always ask God in faith and receive good things from Him (Matthew 7:7-8,11).

Every child of God s unique and is growing into maturity at different paces in different areas of his life.

Everyone will grow into the maturity of Christ and grow into his inheritance in Christ differently from others.
Each will be more successful in certain areas as compared with other areas of his life.
We are all not yet perfect in everything.
We all need one another to help us in areas where we lack the manifested blessings and favor of God.
We need to learn from one another and help one another.

Thus it is not wise to compare ourselves with others if it will lead to envy and jealousy.
Comparison will only lead to blessings if we have a teachable heart and are willing to learn from others better off than us.
If a brother is more successful in business, learn from him.
If his children are more able to cope with their studies and do well, learn from him.
If his family always walk in health and the protection of God, learn from him.

Our God is a gracious and generous God.
He has already given us his most precious gift, Jesus Christ, and through Christ, everything that God has belongs to us (Romans 8:32; Ephesians 1:3).

Thus if we need anything that is good from God, all we have to do is to turn to Him in prayer, ask for what we need, and receive it by faith, whether it is a material of spiritual blessing.
He will surely give it to us (Matthew 7:7-11).

ASK and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who ASKS receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give GOOD GIFTS to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give GOOD GIFTS to those who ASK Him."                                              (Matthew 7:7-8, 11)

Thus there is no need to be envious or jealous of the prosperity or blessings of others.
God has no favorites.
He will give you what you need (although not what you lust for).
In asking from God, we must therefore ask according to God's will.

Every ministry is based on a specific calling of God upon a person's life.
As we are faithful in serving others using the gifts that we have, the body of Christ will recognize and affirm that calling in our life.

Scripture does not teach us to ask God for a specific ministry.
Instead, we should ask God concerning the area of service He would have us be involved in, hear from God and then act on it.

Desiring to have a certain ministry because we are envious of the ministries we see in others is not in God's will.

Do not say:
"Sister Esther has touch so many children's life through her ministry to problem children. They all adore her. I will also ask God for the same type of children's ministry."

This is wrong. Don't do what you see others do.
Do what God wants you to do. God is our commander-in-Chief.
Do what He tells you to do.

It is alright to ask God for spiritual gifts; in fact, we are commanded by God to earnestly desire spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 14:1).
However, but it must be done with the right motives.

We want more gifts of God to operate in our lives because we want to strengthen our ministry and be a greater blessings to others.

We should not ask for gifts in order to show off how "spiritual" or how "mature" we are.
Spiritual maturity is never measured by the amount of gifts operating in a person's life.
Gifts are only an indication of the grace of God operating in a person's life.
Instead, spiritual maturity is measure by the love expressed in a person's life.

Every child of God should walk in the riches of God that belongs to him and his family in Christ, including

Our God is a God of abundance.
What your brother-in-Christ has received from God can also become a reality in your life, for God has more than enough to provide for all His children.
Thus there is no need to be envious of the success or prosperity of another.
There is no need to covet what belongs to him.
God can give you what He has given him, if you learn to ask in faith.

However, the problem is that most believers do not know what belongs to them in Christ, or how to petition God in prayer and receive their blessings by faith.

Many are ignorant of their inheritance in Christ and resign themselves to poverty, insufficiency or constant need.
Others ask but never receive because they do not know how to walk in faith.
As a result, envy arises when they see a successful or prosperous brothers.
This is wrong and should never be the situation for any believer.

Learn from the brothers who are blessed of God, successful and prosperous.
Each of them will have testimonies of the steps of faith they have taken, and the daily miracle answers of God to their prayers.
Learn to walk in obedience and faith likewise, and you will see the same results.

Jealousy and envy never bring us into the blessings of God, while obedience and faith always will.

Your thought

1. In what areas have we been envious of others?
   

2. Why is envy wrong?
   

3. What is the right attitude we should adopt whenever we see others more blessed by God than ourselves in certain areas of life?
   List out the thoughts we should always possess whenever we see the prosperity/blessings/talents of another brother in order not to allow envy to arise.
   

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