If we are being honest, isn’t it true that there is at least one person in our lives that we don’t like, right now? Why, though? Dislike can come from past hurts but most often if we are being really honest, it comes from somebody having something we don’t have.

Today, I am going to be talking about envy from the series I am listening to. Envy is one of the saddest of sins because it  exhausts you and wears you down long term. The bible is filled with stories of envy; Joseph and his brothers, Leah and Rachel, Jacob and Esau and the most important Jesus’ crucifixion. Do you know that our culture out of all cultures is consumed with the most envy/greed? How sad is that to think about? Social Media has played a big role in our envy towards others. What we have trouble understanding is that social media is not reality. It is a highlight reel carefully constructed, photoshopped, and edited for false praise. Please don’t get me wrong because social media has helped people in their business’ and can also be a great way to share with your loved ones but if we aren’t careful it can become another bottomless pit, an idol. We tend to think envy is because someone has what we want and they are the problem but envy is really a heart issue, a spiritual issue in us. Envy disguises itself in many forms… Criticism, Jealousy, Comparison, Self- Pity, False Praise, and Avoidance.

Let’s start with some questions so we can see if we are struggling in the area of envy….

1. Do you find yourself belittling the accomplishments, appearances, and talents of others?

2. You don’t like someone and you don’t even really know why? Or you have conjured something up in your head

3. Are you secretly pleased when someone you “don’t like” or even someone you do suffers a setback?

4. Are you exhausted from trying to keep up with others? Are you depleting your resources by doing so?

5. Are you allowing what others have keep you from enjoying what you already have?

We can spend so much of our time looking to the right and looking to the left to see if we measure up? It seems natural to look to others for our worth and value but there is no winning in comparing. A pastor who is teaching this series calls it “The Land of ER” We just want to be skinner, richer, taller, smarter, cooler, prettier, happier.

Am I enough?

Do I have value?

Am I Ok?

No amount of possessions or power can ever fix our envy because someone will always have more of something that we think we want Statistically, most people are not envious of people who have a great deal more, its usually the person who has just a little more than you. Envy breeds proximity and it’s main goal is to destroy communities that can include Husbands and Wives, Co-workers, Friends, Neighbors….

Jesus was sent to earth for more than forgiving us or granting us access to heaven. We were being adopted as God’s very own children. We are heirs no matter what we have or don’t have here on this earth. Instead of looking to our left and to our right, let’s begin to look to Jesus- who is the only one who can free us from all that is weighing us down including the spirit of envy, then we will finally start to see ourselves the way he sees us.

Do you hope that your children see themselves, the way that you see them? Well, that is how God wants us to see ourselves. Allow Him to do His great works in you by giving Him the burdens. You were not meant to carry burdens of any sort. He will help you in any area that you need help in. He is a yes, away.

What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So, also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his son born of a woman, born under the law, the we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child and since you are his child, God has also made you an heir.

xo