15 Mar What is Envy?
“Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” Galatians 5:26
The dictionary states that envy is a feeling of discontent or covetousness of another’s advantages, possessions, or attainments; desire for something possessed by another: “I envy her talent for decorating”.
When people envy others, it can involve:
- refusing to celebrate another person’s success
- being unhappy when others have success
- finding joy when other people experience setbacks or failure
- frequently judging what other people are doing
- constantly diminishing the success of others
- becoming upset when people compliment others’ hard work
- offering fake compliments when talking about other people
- spreading rumours or false information about other people
- attempting to copy or compete with the person they are envious of
(These points taken from online article, Healthline)
Envy is a very destructive force in our lives, there’s a proverb in the bible which says, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”
The curse of envy is that the more ‘successful’ a person is, the more likely they are to be envied by others, and then they may be reluctant to strive for success.
The irony of being envious though, is that it puts us in a self-destructive cycle. If we are envious of our friend–>leads to being mean to our friend–>leads to our friend walking away–>leaves us lonely–>envious of others who have friends.
Apparently, envy is very hard to spot in ourselves, and often we can turn to blaming others, or try to make others envious of us to take the spotlight off ourselves. But don’t stop here, take a look at our other article on how to overcome envy.
Be blessed. Yvette Wynne