DANGER OF ENVY I
Memorise: A sound heart is
the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones. Proverbs 14:30
Read: Genesis 4:3-8.
MESSAGE!
From Proverbs 3:31-33 we understand
that oppressors should not be envied, because there is a divine curse on their
households. If you envy an unbeliever for any reason, you may be attracting the
curse on such a fellow to yourself. Furthermore, Psalm
37:1-2, admonishes us to look beyond the material blessings of sinners,
as they are heading for a tragic end. Besides not envying sinners, Galatians 5:26 makes it clear that it is equally
wrong to envy one another. Envy is dangerous, because it can trigger a chain of
negative events in the life of the envious. If there is envy in the heart of a
person and it is not dealt with, it can lead to murder, as was the case with
Cain. Cain and his younger brother, Abel, offered up scarifies before God.
While Abel’s offering was accepted, Cain’s offering was rejected. Instead of
going back to God to find out what he did wrong, or going to his brother to
find out what he did wrong, or going to his brother to find out what he did
right, so that he could adjust and offer an acceptable sacrifice, he took the
mean option of giving room to envy. He nursed envy in his heart until the day
they had a quarrel over some other issues. On this day, he hit his brother so
hard that he died. Envy leads to murder. If you are envious, a seed that can
grow into murder is already in your heart.
Similarly, in Genesis 37, we see how
Joseph’s brothers were taken over by envy. They envied him because he was their
father’s favourite son. This they did instead of finding out what they could do
to make them partake of their father’s favour. When Joseph had a set of dreams
revealing a great future ahead, they envied him the more. Envy made them forget
that Joseph was their younger brother and of the same blood with them. Envy
affected their reasoning at a point where they become very irrational. Come to
think of it, if their younger brother’s dreams of greatness were realised.
Would it not positively affect their position in several ways? This should have
made them encourage him to fulfil his destiny, so that they could become
co-beneficiaries. Instead of this, envy poisoned their hearts against their own
blood and got them to take up the assignment of killing his dream. Are you
envious of anyone? Are you out to kill other people’s dreams because if
realised, they could become greater than you? It is evil! Repent today!
Key Point
Envy distorts the rational
thinking process of the environs and makes such a fellow more subjective than
objective.
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