Envy is more dangerous than I thought

For most of my life, my wife and I have lived in middle-class or lower middle-class areas.   We had the other ends of the spectrum “out there,” but we didn’t have to think about them much, except when I visited my boss or some other wealthy person.  And we really didn’t have that many homeless folks, so I didn’t see a lot of poverty either.  

The atmosphere where we live now is quite different.  Wealth and poverty live close together.  We see homeless often and have many hitch hikers on the main roads.  Some are walking from the Casino.  And there are also places of extravagance close by as well, such as 4-5 story lake homes. Envy can easily creep into our hearts and life. 

Envy is a kind of sickness of the soul.  Psalm 73 discusses this. Tim Keller’s synopsis of verses Psalm 73:1-3 give a clear picture:

“The psalmist confesses that he is in the grips of envy (verse 3).  To envy is to want someone else’s life.  It’s to feel not just that they don’t deserve their good life but that you do and that God hasn’t been fair.  This spiritual self-pity; which forgets your sin and what you truly deserve from God; drains all the joy out of your life, making it impossible to enjoy what you have.  The power of envy is such that it made even the Garden of Eden feel like it was not enough.  No wonder the psalmist almost “slipped” and turned from God (verse 2).  Don’t let yourself slip into envy, or you will destroy your own joy.”  (Keller, The Songs of Jesus, Viking p. 166).

Envy is the polar opposite of contentment. For me personally, I realize that it goes beyond a simple house or a boat.  It is the full power of coveting, which is the 10th Commandment.  It is the commandment that made the Apostle Paul stumble (Romans 7:7). In fact, in a general sense, lust is involved.  And lust, as we know, degrades who people actually are and makes them non-human, non-persons in our eyes.  

Recognizing this, God has born a new desire for me to see the true heart of other people.  My wife often bemoans the fact that people are not really seen for who they are. Their hearts are not taken into account.  And she is right.  God wants us to see and love the other person.  A person is not a thing.  A person is a beautiful unique being made up of a heart, soul, mind, will, emotions, God’s own image.  God calls us to love the whole person rather than to look without seeing.

So, my current practice is to seek to listen better and to really see others, especially their heart. In fact, today I was at a table with several people, but there was someone I didn’t get to talk with.  When I was leaving, I told him that I’d like to talk so I could see his heart.  His response was “are you a cardiologist?”  Well, in one sense, perhaps I am.  

Wouldn’t that be wonderful if we could look at others and really see their heart? This is certainly what God sees. If we start to look at people this way, we will start to see as God does. And we will guard against envy creeping into our hearts.