by It’s hard not to look at others and want what they have– at least the good parts of it. Moreso with social media!
Christians are called to abhor envy and not be conformed to the worldly influences that stir it up in us. But we are naïve if we think we can wholly escape these influences. We are each given different stations in life as well as places in the church. We may be good at our respective roles, but whether we are content with them is another question.
Source: Eliminating Envy in Christian Ministry – byFaith
But we can envy both our neighbors belongings AND things inside the church– whether it’s the size of a ministry, the authority someone has, or the things that they’ve accumulated.
As believers, we need to squash envy wherever we find it. The best way to do this is with humility and thankfulness. When we focus on the fact that God gives us all things and is doing things for our best good, we can defeat envy and rejoice with those who rejoice. We can also come alongside the brother who is leading or has those things and actually pray for them earnestly.
Which better advances the kingdom: Encouraging and lifting up those in the church to be the best they can be for God, or sitting back and envying those in leadership and proclaiming everything they’ve done wrong?
