EnvyBy Pastor Joey Sauco

Jas 3:16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work."For where you find envy there you find disorder and every evil practice."Envy cause "every evil practice".Envy can cause lying. Nothing causes us to lie more than envy.I want to be envied and so I either exaggerate things, or say the favorable part only, or make up an entire imaginative story.And for me not to get entangled in every evil practice, my heart has to be set free from envy and none can set me free but God and the truth that He loves me just as I am not for what I could have or what I could be.He loves me because He loves me period.Theres no sense for me to be envious if I only learn to get content with the love of my God and His own blessings for me.2. A promise from GodEnvy cause murder.Cain killed Abel because of envy.Gen 4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.Gen 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.Joseph was thrown into a pit by his brothers because of envy.Gen 37:19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.Gen 37:20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.How many murder stories have we heard already of even families and friends because of inheritance or something the other possesses?Envy can rob a man of his sanity and morality. Envy can turn even a noble man into a murderer.I better deal with it before it gets too late for me.

2. A Command to keepEnvy can't tolerate anybody being better.The Bible says Jesus was put on the cross by the Pharisees because of envy.Mar 15:10 For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.That's the power of envy. It makes people blind to Gods goodness to others and to them.It makes people bitter about the power and presence of God in somebody elses life.Envy leads to sins. It can't tolerate anybody being better than me.I should learn how to bring my envy to the very throne of God.4. A timeless principleEnvy makes me miserable.It ruins my happiness. It causes me to be so unhappy.Pro 14:30 A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones."A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones!"Envy eats you up inside. Envy is like a cancer. It eats me up on the inside.It makes me bitter toward myself, toward my situation, toward someone else. It takes away the smile on my face.When I am envious I am only hurting myself, always on the look out for what others have that Idont.And even when I get half of the world Ill never be satisfied because my line of thinking will always be If I only have what he hasWhen I am envious it is self-destructive.5. My applicationPsalm 37:8 (KJV) Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.When I am resenting God's goodness in somebody else's life, and ignoring God's goodness in myown, I am only hurting myself.A lot of depression is really only internalized envy. Phrases like "It's not fair! ... He gets all the breaks! ... How come I never get anything like that?"Envy causes me to get depressed.The movie Amadeus had a character that was driven crazy by his envy for Mozart. He became very obsessed with making him fail that he ended up the loser in life.If someone were to tell me I had a cancer on my back I would immediately go, deal with it and get it cut out.Envy is worse than that. Envy spreads so easily in the internal organ, even the bones.I need to deal with it before it's too late.I need to cut it out of my life and be rid of it once and for all so it does not mess me up anymore.That's pretty hard in the competitive world we live in but God says in the time appointed those that wait on Him shall have their own blessings.Psalm 37:9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.Envy is a chronic disease, an epidemic that needs serious treatment and the best surgeon that can operate on me is none other than my God and the best medicine that can fast cure me is none other than the world of God.