Proverbs 14:30 confirms this, “A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones.”
Envy and jealousy are two of the most terrible emotions humans possess.
At the beginning, they seem harmless, but these two often lead people down a destructive road, with deadly consequences.
In Genesis, we see what envy and jealousy does to Cain, how it pushes him to kill his brother, Abel.
King Herod is another biblical character who displayed envy, which lead to attempting to kill all boys under the age of 3.
Jealousy is also seen when Jacob’s 11 sons sell their youngest brother, Joseph, for being their father’s favorite.
In all of these stories, we can clearly see murder, lying, as some of the terrible results of jealousy and envy.
This clearly shows that these two can do no good, only evil.
Thus, it is important that we flee from these emotions.
We can do this by recognising them, asking for forgiveness and giving it up to God.
Another way to fight these two is to stop comparing, learn to be content and simply appreciate the things that God has given us, while learning to be happy for others.
Galatians 6:4 stresses against comparing, “Let everyone be sure that he is doing his very best, for then he will have the personal satisfaction of work well done and won’t need to compare himself with someone else.”
2 Corinthians 10:12 also says,“We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.”
Being happy for others takes away the need to compare, resentment, which often leads to jealousy and envy.
1 Corinthians 13:4 tells us that, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.”
Let us learn to replace envy and jealousy with the love, the pure, unadulterated type that can only come from God.