Envy

PEWSLAG – The Seven Deadly Sins

Sunday Morning Sermon
September 17, 2017
1 Samuel 18:6 – 9
John McKeel

Envy will Eat You Up

“Envy is the desire to have what another person has,” Tony Campolo. It is not simply a longing to have the same kind of thing the other person has; the envious person wants to strip another of something in order to possess it completely and solely (Proverbs 14:30).

Do you remember the story of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5)?

The Problem with Envy

“Love does not envy or boast,” 1 Corinthians 13:4

Envy is a pervasive sin.

“A convincing case can be made that the entire free enterprise system is fueled by envy,” – Henry Stein, Ethics (and Other Liabilities), 1982

“We worship success but we really don’t like the successful. We are envious of them,” – Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Envy Expressed

  1. Envy expresses itself in all walks of life.
    • Children want other children to envy their toys.
    • Adults engage in “conspicuous consumption.”
    • People marry a “trophy spouse.”
    • The desire for envy often leads to overspending and consequent marital conflict. (Disagreements over money is the most often cited cause for divorce.)
  2. Envy is a major cause of unhappiness and self-contempt.
    • The man who covets another man’s wife becomes discontented with his own.
    • The student who envies another’s grades underestimates his own abilities.
    • The woman who envies another woman’s appearance becomes a supporter of a cultural system that diminishes her own value and encourages her own unhappiness.
    • Envy diminishes people’s enjoyment of life because they cannot be content with what they have.

 Overcoming Envy

  1. The root of envy is doubting God. We need to understand, God wills the very best for you!
    • We may think we need something else but God knows what we really need!
    • Why did Cain kill Abel? Envy!
  2. Consider Moses (Numbers 11:16 – 30) or John the Baptist: “He must increase …” (John 3:30).

Wisdom conquers envy.

  1. Other people have made different choices than you, but that doesn’t mean you made the wrong choice.
  2. Perhaps, there is something in your own life that needs to change.
  3. Understand what truly makes you happy.
  4. Know that there are different seasons of life.
  5. Take a “reality check.”
  6. Ask if you are using technology wisely.
  7. Cultivate an “attitude of gratitude.”

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