Welcome to the Encouragement for Today Readers... I'm glad you are here. The contest details are below. But first let's explore this topic of jealousy and envy a little more.
Sometimes I think we have these little things in our life we like to pretend aren't there. We navigate around them, smile in spite of their stinging, and don't want to be honest about their presence.
Little sins. We like to think of them as little sins. Things we'll deal with later. Much later. Maybe never.
Envy and jealousy are popular little sins but not popular to talk about. Let's be honest, hardly a girl alive doesn't know what it feels like to wish we had something someone else has. Or lost the weight another person has lost. Or discovered that midas touch we perceive someone else has discovered.
Last year I had the opportunity to hang out with someone very famous. She's thin, glamorous, wealthy, fun, witty and successful to the point of being called a phenomenon. I can't say I was exactly envious of her but I will say my brain started down that slippery slope by wondering how great it must be to be her.
I let my heart peak over that edge and felt a tug for my brain to go there... go to that place of wanting what she has. I looked at my jeans many sizes larger than hers and sighed. I watched people clamor for attention while I felt brushed aside and sighed. I came clunking in shoes meant for grandmas while she glided about in stilletos and me and my fat toes sighed.
Sigh...wish...want...desire...maybe envy just a tad...and sigh again.
That's when the questions come.
What's wrong with me?
Why can't I ___________?
Why doesn't God love me enough to _________________?
Why does she deserve so much more than me?
Such dangerous questions. Such a dangerous thing to even let our hearts peak over the edge of that slope. Such a dangerous place to let our hearts party with pity.
In my situation I realized what was happening and redirected my tipsy heart. I started praying for this person and slowly love trickled in... eventually flooding in... and washed the threat of envy out. I made myself use the script I mentioned in today's devotion, "I'm not equipped to handle what she has both good and bad."
And it helped. It restored. It freed me.
I used to really struggle with this. But now I've learned to recognize the early warning signals and deal with it right away. It really is possible to be freed from envy.
Real danger comes if we let our minds run rampant with envy. We secretly wish something will happen to taint that other person's perceived perfect situation...their perfect marriage- their perfect home- their perfect kids- their perfect financial situation- their perfect job- and prove they are not so terrific afterall.
Because inside each of our hearts there is a dark, disgusting, rotting mound of sinful flesh that just can't help but try and stink up our thinking.
Mercy.
Nothing like a light and fluffy post hunh?
I write about this friends because I want us to be courageous enough to face this. Deal with this. And resolve not to get snagged by it.
Envy and jealousy are friendship killers. They are celebration killers. They are love killers. And might I be bold enough to even say Jesus killers. Look at the verse that describes what Pilate was thinking right before he handed Jesus over to be crucified:
"For he knew it was out of envy that they handed Jesus over to him," Matthew 27: 18. Only a few verses later we find Jesus being flogged and handed over to be crucified.
Envy... a killer indeed.
Oh my friends this isn't little. The presence of envy in our heart shouldn't and can't be brushed aside, excused, or ignored.
We must, must, must fall on our knees today in utter repentance and raw admission.
Today I'm challenging myself and you my friend to ask God to reveal where envy has entangled itself in the depths of our heart. We must not resist what God brings to mind. Then we must- with every ounce of intentionality- address this, deal with it, learn how to replace it, and rip it up by its very root.
Today... in the comments let's discuss this envy issue. Post a verse, helpful hint, honest admission, challenge you are issuing yourself, question... whatever. Let's chat.
And just for posting whatever you feel led to post by clicking the word comments below, you'll be entered to win a Girlfriend Gift Pack- 4 copies of my book "Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl" where the Biblical response to envy is discussed and explored.
Love you friends!
Sometimes I think we have these little things in our life we like to pretend aren't there. We navigate around them, smile in spite of their stinging, and don't want to be honest about their presence.
Little sins. We like to think of them as little sins. Things we'll deal with later. Much later. Maybe never.
Envy and jealousy are popular little sins but not popular to talk about. Let's be honest, hardly a girl alive doesn't know what it feels like to wish we had something someone else has. Or lost the weight another person has lost. Or discovered that midas touch we perceive someone else has discovered.
Last year I had the opportunity to hang out with someone very famous. She's thin, glamorous, wealthy, fun, witty and successful to the point of being called a phenomenon. I can't say I was exactly envious of her but I will say my brain started down that slippery slope by wondering how great it must be to be her.
I let my heart peak over that edge and felt a tug for my brain to go there... go to that place of wanting what she has. I looked at my jeans many sizes larger than hers and sighed. I watched people clamor for attention while I felt brushed aside and sighed. I came clunking in shoes meant for grandmas while she glided about in stilletos and me and my fat toes sighed.
Sigh...wish...want...desire...maybe envy just a tad...and sigh again.
That's when the questions come.
What's wrong with me?
Why can't I ___________?
Why doesn't God love me enough to _________________?
Why does she deserve so much more than me?
Such dangerous questions. Such a dangerous thing to even let our hearts peak over the edge of that slope. Such a dangerous place to let our hearts party with pity.
In my situation I realized what was happening and redirected my tipsy heart. I started praying for this person and slowly love trickled in... eventually flooding in... and washed the threat of envy out. I made myself use the script I mentioned in today's devotion, "I'm not equipped to handle what she has both good and bad."
And it helped. It restored. It freed me.
I used to really struggle with this. But now I've learned to recognize the early warning signals and deal with it right away. It really is possible to be freed from envy.
Real danger comes if we let our minds run rampant with envy. We secretly wish something will happen to taint that other person's perceived perfect situation...their perfect marriage- their perfect home- their perfect kids- their perfect financial situation- their perfect job- and prove they are not so terrific afterall.
Because inside each of our hearts there is a dark, disgusting, rotting mound of sinful flesh that just can't help but try and stink up our thinking.
Mercy.
Nothing like a light and fluffy post hunh?
I write about this friends because I want us to be courageous enough to face this. Deal with this. And resolve not to get snagged by it.
Envy and jealousy are friendship killers. They are celebration killers. They are love killers. And might I be bold enough to even say Jesus killers. Look at the verse that describes what Pilate was thinking right before he handed Jesus over to be crucified:
"For he knew it was out of envy that they handed Jesus over to him," Matthew 27: 18. Only a few verses later we find Jesus being flogged and handed over to be crucified.
Envy... a killer indeed.
Oh my friends this isn't little. The presence of envy in our heart shouldn't and can't be brushed aside, excused, or ignored.
We must, must, must fall on our knees today in utter repentance and raw admission.
Today I'm challenging myself and you my friend to ask God to reveal where envy has entangled itself in the depths of our heart. We must not resist what God brings to mind. Then we must- with every ounce of intentionality- address this, deal with it, learn how to replace it, and rip it up by its very root.
Today... in the comments let's discuss this envy issue. Post a verse, helpful hint, honest admission, challenge you are issuing yourself, question... whatever. Let's chat.
And just for posting whatever you feel led to post by clicking the word comments below, you'll be entered to win a Girlfriend Gift Pack- 4 copies of my book "Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl" where the Biblical response to envy is discussed and explored.
Love you friends!
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