Dealing With Envy

James 4:1-10Teens’ Worship

August 15, 2010

“Stupid People” Stories

1. Attempted robbery at gun point at a Burger King

2. Woman arrested for robbery at a Howard Johnson motel with a chain saw

3. Three guys trying to rob a gas station

4. Burglars trying to cut through a safe

5. Man breaking into a bank

What is Envy?

• “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.” (James 3:16)

• “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. (Galatians 5:19-21)

• They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. (Romans 1:29-31)

• One of the principal causes of evil and sin is the dangerous feeling called envy.

• If left unchecked, it becomes a primary instigator of every other evil thought and action imaginable.

• Envy is a characteristic of the wicked – selfish ambition, greed, malice, murder…

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight…” (James 4:1-2)

• Webster’s Dictionary:

ENVY: “a feeling of antagonism towards someone because of some good which he is enjoying but which one does not have oneself; a coveting for oneself of the good which someone else is enjoying…”

• Vine’s Dictionary of NT Words:ENVY: "the feeling of displeasure produced by witnessing or hearing of the advantage or prosperity of others; this evil sense always attaches to this word…envy desires to deprive another of what he has”

• i.e., ENVY is saying, “I like what you’ve got. I don’t like the fact that you have it, and I want it!!

• How many of you have ever had this feeling?

• For some, this feeling is fleeting – something that we feel only an instant.

• But…for others, it is a feeling that sticks in our hearts – that irritates us and grinds away at us.

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• “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” (Proverbs 14:30)

• Envy is crippling.

• A person with envy is a person with a troubled heart, a troubled mind and a troubled life.

• You need to deal with it! Otherwise it will cripple you!

Envy cripples our ability to examine ourselves

• Story of Cain and Abel

• God accepted Abel’s offering

• He rejected Cain’s offering

• This made Cain very angry.

• Envy began to stew and broil in Cain’s heart.

“Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." (Genesis 4:6-7)

• How many of you have asked “Gee, how come God answers their prayers but not mine?”

• “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:3)

Envy cripples our relationships with others

• Story of Joseph and his brothers

• “…His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.” (Genesis 37:11)

• Strained relationships:

- Between Joseph and his brothers

- Amongst the brothers

- With their father

• Envying others leads to:

- bitterness in your talk

- abruptness in your actions

- back-biting, gossiping, slander

- a close friend becoming a bitter enemy

• Greek proverb: “As rust corrupts iron, so envy corrupts man.”

Envy cripples our respect for authority / leadership

• Story of Aaron, Miriam and Moses

• "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?" they asked. ‘Hasn't He also spoken through us?’ And the LORD heard this. (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)” (Numbers 12:2-3)

Who are our authorities and leaders?

• Teachers

• Police

• Boss

• Politicians

• Pastors

• Student leaders

What happens when we envy those in charge?

• We risk being disrespectful and disobedient towards them

• We’ll ask, “How did they get to be in such positions of authority?!!”

• “I can do a better job than they could!”

“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” (Romans 13:1-2)

Envy cripples our ability to enjoy what we have

• Haman and Mordecai in story of Queen Esther

“Haman boasted to them about his vast wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored him and how he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials. ‘And that's not all,’ Haman added. ‘I'm the only person Queen Esther invited to accompany the king to the banquet she gave. And she has invited me along with the king tomorrow. But all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king's gate.’”

(Esther 5:11-13)

• Fable of an eagle that was envious of another eagle

• Envy not only cripples our ability to enjoy what we have, but also to be thankful for what we have.

• How many of you have ever said, “If only I had…”?

• Consider yourself blessed to be living in this country!

Envy cripples our spiritual growth

• 1 Peter 2:1-2 says, “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation…”

• Envy is a worldly and sinful emotion.

• One of most prevalent characteristics of today’s society.

• No wonder James 4 was written to the envious.

“You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (James 4:4)

• An envious spirit sets you against God!

• Do you want to be an enemy of God??

• Envy cripples our relationship with God.

How do we deal with envy?

• James 4:6 says, “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ’God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”

• Who does God give grace to?

• What is grace?

• God’s unmerited favour

• We are to crave spiritual milk – God’s will, God’s plan, God’s desires not our desires.

• When we see others who are being blessed, praise God!

• Don’t let envy set its footmarks all over your soul.

How do we deal with envy?

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:7-10)

How do we deal with envy?

• “Submit yourself to God” – voluntarily bend your will to God’s will

• “Resist the devil and he will flee you” – take a stand against the devil; let go of the desires that give him power over you

• “Come near to God and he will come near to you” – a wonderful invitation with an incredible promise

• “Wash your hands and purify your hearts” – stop doing wrong things or have wrong motives

• “Grieve, mourn and wail” – to be truly sorry for the wrongs we’ve done

• “Humble yourselves before the Lord” – The Lord delights in lifting you up!