Although I had heard the podcast on envy from Rick Warren a few years ago, it astonishes me how much I forgot about the effect of envy.
The title to the podcast is "Evicting Envy From Your Heart." Rick Warren reviews the effects that envy has in our lives. He reminds me how envy is a form of worship, and moreover, it reveals what you are TRULY worshipping. In the end, he says, "envy is an insult to God."
BAM! Have you ever thought of envy as an insult to God? I guess I never looked at it that way. Rick referenced my favorite scripture during this message, which states: "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10) Rick goes on to say that if we are envious, jealous, covet what others have, whether its a possession, their talent, their relationship, and so on, then we are insulting God because he designed us for OUR purpose, not to be like someone else. We are supposed to be living the life God designed for us, not the one He designed for someone else.
Of course, this is completely opposite what social media, TV ads, magazines, and newspapers want us to believe. They do a great job of enticing us to want what everyone else has. Our friend gets a new car, we want one. Your neighbor puts an addition on their home, you want a bigger home. We put ourselves in debt and often a myriad of unhappy moments, because we are chasing something that wasn't designed by God for us to have. God gave us specific talents and desires, unique to ONLY us to do good works. Unfortunately, many of us don't figure that out for many years, and when we look back, we did what others wanted us to do, or enticed us to do, and not that which was meant for only us to do.
What are you envious of? Do you find yourself striving to be like someone else? We all do it! It is the character of our world. We have to work very hard to find acceptance with the gifts God has given ONLY us, our talents, our belongings, our heart.
How can you work on letting go of anything you are worshipping besides God? Take some time to write it out...journal about it. Ask God to release you from anything that you covet, find yourself jealous of, or you find yourself envious of something another person has. Don't wait. Do it today. It is worth it!
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