Envy

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Envy is one of the seven deadly sins.

A ruining flesh sin

Envy is a sin of flesh.[1] Envy (evil eye) is among the things that come from the heart, defiling a person.[2] The whole body is full of darkness when the eye, the lamp of body, is bad.[3] Envy ruins the body health because it makes the bone rot[4] and excludes us from inheriting the kingdom of God.[5] Sometimes, as a punishment, God leaves some people in their sins, falling prey to envy and other heavy sins.[6]

Universal and profound sin

The basis of all toil and all skill of the people[7](we always choose our job because we want the wealthy, fame and pleasures we see at the others" s job around us), envy is, therefore, a sin deeply engraved in human nature.[8]It appears (comes into being) when man lacks certain things, circumstance that exist when either he does not ask it from God or asks to spend it on his passions (pleasures).[9]

Genesis and causes

Envy may be cause by wealth (Isaac, envied of Philistines.[10]), by the brightness of wealth, power and beauty (Assyria kingdom envied of other kingdoms[11], by political and military rising ( Saul eyed David from the moment he heard the women song of joy[12]), fertility (Leah, envied of Rachel[13]), social ascent (Joseph whom his brothers were jealous of[14]), countless miracles and healings (the apostles envied of high priest and the Sadducees[15]), popularity (Paul and Barnabas, envied of unfaithful Jewish from Antioch-[16]), the success of Christianization of many Thessalonians (Paul and Silas , envied of unfaithful Jews from Thessalonica[17]), virtues and true power to heal, to make miracles and to teach people (Jesus envied of the chief priests[18]

God will reward each according to his deeds

Christians must not fall into the trap of envying of the wicked who seem to have a happy and untroubled life, but always be aware that God will reward each according to his deeds. The true Christian will be sure, as the psalmist the moment he enters the temple of God, that those bloated, with ,,pride as necklace’’ and ,,violence as garment’’ (clothing), which are stumbling block to the faith of ordinary people, will fade like greens, will be cut down quickly like the grass ", being thrown away and ruined the right time.[19]

Happy for anyone saved

Also, the Christians must not look with evil eye at the last converts to avoid therefore becoming the last ones, missing the kingdom of God[20] They should be happy for anyone saved, like Christ, who came to save the lost, as the shepherd seeking the lost sheep. Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, was among the lost ones and he succeeded in bringing salvation to him and to his house.[21]

No good eating the envier’s bread

It is no good eating the envier’s bread, nor desiring his delicacies, because he is like one who is inwardly calculating”, his heart is not with you” and so ,,you will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words”.[22]

Envy and wisdom

Sometimes arisen out of sophistry[23], envy cannot coexist with true and spiritual wisdom, but with false, earthly, unspiritual, demonic wisdom.[24]

Struggle against envy

Throwing away envy is a crucial condition in our path to salvation.[25] Envy was seen by the Apostle Paul as a real danger even within the first Christian communities.[26] Envy should remain a sin of the past, defeated by God teaching[27], which, as in the tenth commandment, forbids us from coveting our neighbour’s things, woman, and servants,[28] and urges us to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, as Apostle Paul said[29], and to love our neighbours as ourselves.[30] Because brotherly, Christian love banishes definitively envy from our hearts.[31]

Reference

  1. 1Corinthians 3.3
  2. Mark 7.20-23
  3. Luke11.34-36, Matthew6.22-23
  4. Proverbs14.30
  5. Galatians 5.19-21, Proverbs 17.5
  6. Romans 1:28-29-32
  7. Ecclesiastes4.4
  8. Ecclesiastes4.4
  9. James 4.1-2-3
  10. Genesis 26.12-14-16, Psalm73.3
  11. Ezekiel31.1-9
  12. 1Samuel18.5-9
  13. Genesis 29.20-30.1-2
  14. Genesis 37.1-11, Acts 7.9
  15. Acts 5.12-17-20
  16. Acts13.44-45-47
  17. Acts 17.5
  18. Mark15.6-10-15, Matthew 27.15-18-26)
  19. Proverbs23.17, 24.1, 3.31, 24.19, 28.22, Psalm 37.1-2, 72.3,73.3
  20. Matthew20.1-15-16
  21. Matthew18.10-14, Luke9.51-56,19.1-10
  22. Proverbs 23.6
  23. 1 Timothy 6.4-5
  24. James 3.13-16
  25. 2 Peter 2.1-2, Job 31.29, Obadiah1.12
  26. 2 Corinthians 12.20, Galatians5.26
  27. Titus 3.3, Romans13.13
  28. Exodus 20.17, Deuteronomy5.21
  29. Romans12.15
  30. Matthew22.39, Mark12.31, Luke10.27
  31. 1Corinthians13.4-10

Sources

  1. Bible, English Standard Version Revised, 1971
  2. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/