Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Galatians 5:26

I chose to write on envy because it likes to rear its ugly head in my life. How subtly - and not so subtly! - it sneaks in! Envy has an element of desire, but that desire is connected to resentment. It’s like the child whining for something she doesn’t have but all her friends do! Wait, don’t we as adults do the same thing? Only we’re more “sophisticated” about enacting our envy like the subtle putdown aimed at another or the power play that makes us feel good. The Greek word for envy is kenodoxos, which means self-conceited or desirous of vain-glory. In other words, empty glory. Ouch! 

Envy is a heart attitude. It comes from a conceited heart that desires to provoke others because it has placed glory in the wrong place. This heart does not trust that God is good all the time, nor that he will do what he promised. Out of this heart comes self-justification, arrogance, or the conviction that you deserve, or are owed, something different. More than anything, this is a heart that misunderstands who God really is and who you are. You are not the stuff! God is. You are his Beloved but you are still dust. He alone knows what you really need to continue on this journey of faith. Do you believe him?

Lord, I come to you today knowing that at times when my eyes are only on the material world that I struggle with envy. Open my eyes to see there is more to my life. Help me to delight in you. You always want what is good for me. Help me to see that in all of my circumstances, whether they are what I would call “good” or not, you ask me to look upward.