In the 2009 Indian film 3 Idiots, two university students are saddened when they don’t see their friend’s name in the results posted on the school noticeboard. Soon it turns out that they had only missed his name, because it was at the very top of the list! Their friend was top of their class. Upon realising this, a new feeling arose: envy. They were disappointed that their friend hadn’t only not failed, as initially supposed, but that he’d excelled. First they were sad that their friend had failed. Then they were sad because he succeeded. We are, indeed, complicated creatures.
First they were sad that their friend had failed. Then they were sad because he succeeded.
Who among us doesn’t in some way identify with those two characters? The rust of envy resides in all of us. So, dear saints, let’s think together briefly about the problem of envy and how we might go about ridding ourselves of it.
Life is Full of Opportunities for Envy
Life is constructed such that there are countless opportunities for envy. There are people around us who are similar in age and stage of life, similar in upbringing or life ambition, and so on. They are our siblings or childhood friends, co-workers and fellow church members. We cannot escape this. Generally speaking, we want a lot of the same things as our peers.
Here we find ripe ground for the shoots of envy to bud and flourish.
However, there are also differences between us. Certain paths are open to some, but not others. There are differences in intelligence, giftedness, diligence, and decision making. Thus some individuals advance faster than others, acquiring greater power, privilege, and possessions. Here we find ripe ground for the shoots of envy to bud and flourish. Here, we find the damp air by which the corrosive rust of envy encrusts the soul.
How It Manifests: Self-Centred, Hateful
Envy manifests itself as a feeling of resentful displeasure in the success of others. Most often it also desires to gain what others have. In envy, one essentially says to God: ‘You have been unfair in apportioning that to them rather than me.’ Not only does envy want what the other has, it also wants the other not to have at all. This is both self-centred devotion and the hateful desire that others suffer. Nothing pleases an envious person more than the failure of others.
Envy is both self-centred devotion and the hateful desire that others suffer.
When envy arises, contentment and joy depart. The soul becomes restless and our minds brood darkly. Blessings already possessed appear minute. Envy stirs sinful motives towards those persons whose success pains it. It longs to satisfy itself with some “sad” report or tragedy. If such a report comes, usually through eager gossip, there is a wave of internal delight. This glee at another’s misfortune is only curtailed by the fact that the report isn’t worse.
Where, but to the very pits of hell, does such blackness of soul drag us? We can be certain that the borders of hell will have many within it given over to the unrestrained torments of envy, while being judged forever for it.
Three Ways to Combat Envy
How do we battle this enemy?
If you aren’t a Christian, the first thing you must do is recognise the sinfulness of your life and turn from it. You must cast ourselves upon the mercy of God who has provided salvation through Jesus. He was the only one who never envied, yet he was judged on behalf of the envious at Calvary. Through faith in him, you receive a new nature that is capable of battling envy.
The deeper our joy in God goes, the greater our contentment will be.
For the Christian, Peter shows that putting away envy is motivated by the reality of the Lord’s goodness (1 Peter 2:1-3). The deeper our joy in him goes, the greater our contentment will be, and the less we will need to seek validation through the failure of others. So, how might we maximise our taste of the Lord’s goodness and confront envy? I’ll suggest three ways.
1. Confession
Envy believes that God isn’t being good to us.
Envy believes that God isn’t being good to us. Recognise this as sin and confess it. Confession, as Thomas Watson said, is the soul vomiting out of itself that which is poisonous. There is great grace to be had in coming to God and specifically laying before him how we have envied others. We have assurance that he will hear us, forgive us, and cleanse us when we do so (1 John 1:9).
2. Contentment
Cultivate a spirit of gratitude towards God.
Second, realise how envy blinds us to the blessings and joys that we already possess. Envy cuts us off from seeing God’s goodness. Therefore we may battle it by specifically noting the various ways in which God is being good to us. Cultivate a spirit of gratitude and contentment towards God. This diverts our attention from that which builds envy to that which promotes thankfulness and praise. “Forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:2).
3. Communion
In seeking regular communion with God, we taste over and over again his goodness. We see what we are in Christ as well as what we’ve received in him. We realise that God has prepared for us an eternity of uninterrupted and ever-expanding joy. Bible study, prayer, and worshipping with the saints all help us commune with the Lord, reacquainting our souls with his goodness.
God’s goodness is the only cleansing agent that can remove the corrosion of envy.
In the end, God’s goodness is the only cleansing agent that can remove the corrosion of envy. Let us then press in for deeper and more enduring tastes of it. May envy be edged out of our hearts as we become more satisfied with him.
