Jerry Bridges, in Respectable Sins, describes envy as the painful and oftentimes resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by someone else.

He goes on to say:

Sometimes we want that same advantage, leading to the further sin of covetousness. And sometimes, we just resent the other person having something we don't have.

He says there are 2 conditions that tempt us to envy;

1) We tend to envy those with whom we most closely identify.
2) We tend to envy in them the areas we value most.

That is so very true...I do not envy someone who is good at something that I have no interest in...or a talent I know I do not have...when envy creeps in my heart, it is almost always someone I relate to...have things in common...the same desires, interests...and they have some kind of perceived advantage over me.

Jerry Bridgess states:

Parents may envy other parents whose children are better students or athletes or, if adults, have better jobs. We may envy friends who have a nicer home or drive a more expensive car. The possibilities for envy are endless. Whenever we compare ourselves with anyone whose circumstances seem better than ours, we face the temptation to envy him or her. We may not even want the better circumstance of our friend; we just resent their having them. But when we are tempted to envy, we should realize that envy, though it may be a subtle and seemingly minor sin to us, is listed among the vile sins that Paul catalogues in Romans 1:29 and Galatians 5:21.

I don't know about you, but that statement about that we just resent them because they have it really convicts me. I do not want to be that way!!! It sounds so ugly when we read about the sin of envy. We all know how self focused and terrible it is when we read about it in that context, but we accept that sin in our hearts so often. We allow that sin to rob us of the joy that is ours in Christ.

Not to even mention the fact that we are not rejoicing in others when we are envious. We actually want those who we are envious of to not have whatever it is that makes us envious...when we should be rejoicing with them!


Jealousy is also defined in Respectable Sins...

Closely akin to envy is the sin of jealousy. In fact, we often equate these two words and treat them as synonyms. But there is a subtle distinction between them that will again help us see the sinfulness of our hearts. Jealousy is usually defined as intolerance of rivalry. There are legitimate occasions for jealousy, such as when someone is trying to win your spouse away from you. God even declares Himself to be a jealous God who will not tolerate the worship of anyone or anything other than Himself. Sinful jealousy occurs, however, when we are afraid someone is going to become equal or even superior to us.

This can be seen played out in church if someone is very gifted in an area...say in music and someone comes along who is better and receives recognition for their talents...that person has become superior to you in your mind and a jealous heart starts to develop. I think it is key to recognize this sinfulness in our hearts and put on humility...because if we are thinking more of the other person above our own interests, then we will truly be happy and thankful for that person's giftedness and will look forward to how it will benefit the body of Christ.

Do you fail in this area of envy and jealousy? I know I do at times. It is times like this when I really look deep into my heart that I see this terrible sin and see how often I allow it into my life. I think Christian women harbor this sin in their hearts a lot...because it is easy to hide and it is acceptable and justifiable at times. Wrong. God never accepts sin.

This is the time we should all ask the Lord to forgive us and put on a heart of pure love for others. I want that, don't you?