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Never be envious or jealous of others if you love God
Never be envious or jealous of others if you love God, because that would amount to doubting God’s goodness in your life.
Why must you be envious of sinners, especially those who look prosperous?
Do you want to have their final hopeless end as well? Or do you want to have the hope which comes from Christ Jesus alone?
Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. (Proverbs 23:17-18)
Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. (Psalm 37:1-3)
Image credit – Daily hope by Pastor Rick
Envy is a sin that starts first in the mind but once it’s put into action, it can harm others and self too
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one; but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death. (James 1:13-15)
Some people are utterly lazy and some lack the right mindset for success, yet these people get very envious and jealous of others who succeed where they failed. Instead of being happy for the success of others, they only find faults with that person. In offices, you will see such kinds, who refuse to talk to a recently promoted colleague just because of envy. In families, you will notice people who won’t help their suffering kin but will do everything to mock a family member who just came out of joblessness, because of jealousy. In politics, you will see one politician who is willing to burn down the entire nation, just because he or she cannot see another politician getting praised by the people for his or her government policies. (Just to be clear, I’m not talking about any specific country, nor about some specific religion. I’m talking about the whole wide world.)
Don’t even say jealousy and envy motivate you
Anyone who claims jealousy and envy motivates them to do better is just plain wrong. Such a person’s wisdom is never from God and can therefore never be justified. You can succeed in life by being truthful and kind and hardworking.
But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t brag and deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where envy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every kind of evil. (James 3:14-16)
Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)
Aim to be free from envy and jealousy for your own welfare
Those who continue to remain envious and jealous are simply harming themselves. Firstly harming their thought life and eventually losing their body and soul.
A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. (Proverbs 14:30)
Surely resentment destroys the fool, and jealousy kills the simple. (Job 5:2)
Instead of jealousy and envy have true love and desire to grow in the Word of God
Instead of wasting your life, resist all jealousy and envy, and each sinful habit and instead love God in all truth. Read the Word of God and grow in it.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. (1 Corinthians 13:4)
Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation. (1 Peter 2:1-2)
Christ be with you!
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A message to those rich in the present age
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. (1 Timothy 6:17)
Be careful of putting your trust in your riches. Moths destroy costly clothes. So do the rich get conned into buying things they don’t need at all. Because of their abundance they neglect to give glory to God. But yet at the moment they avoid the Lord they become diligent to the wrong paths of life. There is only one life and then comes the afterlife. The legacy of the rich can only go this much. Perhaps their true friends and select relatives will remember them once they are no longer on earth. But if they choose the Lord God even to their last breath then the angels of God will remember to bring them to heaven. There they will be comforted by Jesus Christ and the saints of the Lord God forever and ever.
Envy is the mother of murder
Envy is the mother of murder.
Through this Cain slew Abel his brother; through this Esau (would have slain) Jacob, and his brethren Joseph, through this the devil all mankind. Thou indeed now killest not, but thou dost many things worse than murder, desiring that thy brother may act unseemly, laying snares for him on all sides, paralyzing his labors on the side of virtue, grieving that he pleaseth the Master of the world. Yet thou warrest not with thy brother, but with Him whom he serves, Him thou insultest when thou preferest thy glory to His.
And what is in truth worst of all, is that this sin seems to be an unimportant one, while in fact it is more grievous than any other; for though thou showest mercy and watchest and fastest, thou art more accursed than any if thou enviest thy brother. As is clear from this circumstance also. A man of the Corinthians was once guilty of adultery, yet he was charged with his sin and soon restored to righteousness; Cain envied Abel; but he was not healed, and although God Himself continually charmed the wound, he became more pained and wave-tossed, and was hurried on to murder.
Thus this passion is worse than that other, and doth not easily permit itself to be cured except we give heed. Let us then by all means tear it up by the roots, considering this, that as we offend God when we waste with envy at other men’s blessings, so when we rejoice with them we are well pleasing to Him, and render ourselves partakers of the good things laid up for the righteous. Therefore Paul exhorteth us to “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep” ( Rom. xii. 15 ), that on either hand we may reap great profit. (St. John Chrysostom)
Don’t be envious of the wicked
Never be envious of evil doers. Maybe they are living a life of luxury now. They might seem happy externally but deep inside they know such happiness won’t forever. Sometimes a believer in Christ may wonder what is going on. Because god hating sinners seem to prosper in the physical world. This is where your patience counts. Don’t lose out on your peace just because someone doesn’t get punished immediately. It could be that God is giving them a final chance to repent before strong judgement is poured out on them.
The most decisive judgement which happens to anyone is the one at the time of one’s death. If someone is in Christ at their dying hour then they will go into heaven. Here Jesus personally will comfort them and wipe away their tears. However if someone died in a state of sin and unbelief then that person will go to hell. Here Satan and his evil angels will torment that person for all eternity.
Hell is real and so are its torments. Jesus said this about hell; “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out” (Mark 9:43)
The only thing worse than Hell is the Lake of Fire. This Lake will soon hold Hell (also called Hades) and its inhabitants. This is confirmed in Revelation 20:13-15 which says that, The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
The Devil too will be cast into the Lake of Fire. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10)
However, those who believe in Jesus Christ won’t go to Hell nor the Lake of Fire. This is because their names are written in the Book of Life. This book is in heaven and only those whose names are in it will enter heaven and also in the new Jerusalem which is to manifest in the future.
“Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” (Luke 10:20)
He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. (Revelation 3:5)
But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (Revelation 21:27)
So dear brothers and sisters who are in Christ Jesus, don’t be envious of the wicked. Especially when you know that their hopes will perish eternally. You have eternal hope. If you believe in Christ then you are safe from Final judgement and have passed from death to life. Happy are those who believe in Jesus till their last hour and their last breath! Amen.
Disciples of hope 