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CORPS RESOURCES
THE7DEADLYS:
ENVY
By Rebecca Walker
GREEN WITH ENVY
Antisthenes, a pupil of Socrates, said, “As
iron is eaten away by rust, so the envious are
consumed by their own passion”. Similarly,
Socrates said, “The envious person grows
lean with the fatness of their neighbour”. It
is well understood that envy eats away at
the person who envies, but still our society
feeds on this dark desire. The effectiveness
of advertising is often through making the
viewer envious or covetous for something
they do not have. Celebrities are used to
provoke an envious desire in us, we want
to be like them. And the solution? Buy the
product they are endorsing… if you have the
right ‘stuff’ you will be just like that celebrity
you envy. However, as many products as we
buy we never quite snuff out that envious
feeling that others have more than we do.
Envy eats away at us.
Envy can take many forms. It is not only
a desire for material possessions. It can also
be a desire for status, or for relationships
[1], or indeed for any temporal or spiritual
ENVY VERSUS JEALOUSY
blessings which others have that we would
like for ourselves [2]. In the workplace, people
may be envious of pay “raises, office space,
promotions, grants, valued assignments, and
promotions... Merely noticing the superior
work achievements of another may also
result in envious social comparisons between
oneself and a colleague” [3].
Envy can feel like a number of
different emotions. One can have a sense
of “inferiority, longing, resentment of
one’s circumstances, shame, depression,
helplessness, insecurity, frustration, and
ill-will toward the envied person” [3]. Envy
can lead us to hate our neighbour, desire to
injure them, to take joy at their misfortune,
and to resent their good fortune [2]. “At its
worst, envy strikes others through slander or
gossip or actively tries to cause them to fail.
Envy brings tension and conflict into families,
schools, offices, parishes, and society” [4].
The words envy and jealousy are often
used interchangeably. However there is a
difference. “In contrast to envy, a resentful
desire for what another person has, jealousy
is a desire to protect what we do have (or
falsely assume that we possess) and which
we fear another may take away from us. It
results in hypervigilance and hoarding” [1].
Jealousy is a desire to protect what we have,
while envy is a desire for what we do not
have. Jealousy can be just as destructive as
envy, however there are also times when
jealousy is godly.
The bible tells us that God is a Jealous
God. He becomes angry when his people
betray him to other gods. In Ezekiel 23, God
describes Israel and Judah as his wives, who
have prostituted themselves to other gods.
God turns his people over to the Assyrians
and the Babylonians out of jealousy for
Israel and Judah’s affection. “Depending on
the object of our protective desire and the
means we use to express it, jealousy can be
a righteous passion. If someone threatens
the divine-human or marriage relationship, a
resentful desire to shield the relationship is
not only legitimate but honoured. God sets
a pattern for threatened spouses: an angry
but dignified desire to repel the rival” [1].
ENVYING UNBELIEVERS
A big temptation for Christians can be to
envy unbelievers. Sometimes the road of
discipleship is hard, and unbelievers seem
to get an easier go at it. It can be easy to
question why we make the sacrifices that
we do, and sometimes see so little return
on our investment. Meanwhile unbelievers
seem to be having a good time, and seem
to get all the perks in life. Rich people rip
off the tax man, and get away with it. There
does not seem to be much justice in that. In
Psalm 73, Asaph shares his envious feelings
towards those who seem to have more than
he does “I envied the arrogant when I saw
the prosperity of the wicked” [1].
However, Asaph recognised that the
success of the wicked was short-lived. He
knew that his envy could destroy him. “But
as for me, my feet has almost slipped; I
had nearly lost my foothold’ (73:2). After
struggling with his envy, he concluded that
evil people were only apparently well-off.
God could ruin them at any time” [1]. Asaph
developed a long-range vision of God’s
justice. “The vision of divine justice put
Asaph back on his feet. It refocused his
heart to see all other desires as insignificant
in light of knowing God” [1].
“Yet I am always with you; you hold me
by my right hand. You guide me with your
counsel, and afterward you will take me
into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the
strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish; you
destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made
the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds” (Psalm 73:23-28 NIV).
This kind of understanding does not extinguish all desire. “In fact, the more we grow,
the more we hunger for what only heaven can provide. And yet earthly tastes, senses, and
passions provide a picture of the ultimate redemption of all things. To desire heaven is not
to desire earth less; it is to desire earth so deeply that it draws our hearts to an anticipation
of ecstasy in the light of God’s embrace” [1]. What this perspective gives us is freedom, “We
are free to be what God wants us to be, without looking over our shoulders at others” [4].
We do not need to compete for limited love and respect, each part of the body of Christ
is of infinite and unique importance [4]. “The Giver of gifts knows us better than we know
ourselves. His gifts are more perfectly suited to us than any we could choose for ourselves.
Only when we accept our appointed place in this great chorus of praise to God, will the joy
of true fulfilment in Him disperse the clouds of envy from our hearts” [4].
NOTES
1 Allender DB, Longman III T. The Cry of the Soul: How our emotions reveal our deepest questions about God. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress; 1994.
2 Keenan S. Catechism of the Christian Religion. Boston: Patrick Donahoe; 1852.
3 Duffy MK, Shaw JD. The Salieri Syndrome: Consequences of Envy in Groups. Small Group Research. 2000;31(1):3-23.
4 Holladay J. Seven Deadly Sins: Envy. [Internet]. 2009 [cited 2010 September 6]. Available from: http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent/story.php?id=32915.
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