The Opposite of Envy

A thought struck me the other day: As far as I know, the English language has no word that expresses the opposite of envy. There may be phrases or sentences that can begin to convey it, but we have no single word we can use to express the virtue that lies opposite that ugly vice. We can wish and pray that we would be less envious, but as we put off that sin, what’s the righteous behavior we ought to …

Do Not Envy the Wicked

I just finished another pilgrimage through the Proverbs, and time and again read the promises that those who live good lives will receive good things while those who live bad lives will receive bad things. This is the way God has structured his world. But while these things are generally true, they are not universally true. Sometimes the wise suffer while the wicked prosper. Solomon acknowledges as much when he warns, “Be not envious of evil men…” I read his …

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Success that Exceeds Sanctification

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a short series of articles on The Lost Sin of Envy, saying that envy is a sin that few of us still have a category for and, therefore, a sin that many of us have unwittingly fallen prey to. As I studied envy, I saw mounting evidence of it in my life and as I shared what I had learned, I guess quite a few of you saw its presence in yourself as …

The Lost Sin of Envy – How Envy Behaves

Yesterday I began to write about what I called The Lost Sin of Envy. I gave a short history of Envy and then shared some of what the Bible says about him. Today I want to show how he behaves and how you can expect him to work himself out in your life. Envy Competes Who is Envy? What does Envy do? How do we define Envy? Something like this: Envy makes you feel resentment or anger or sadness because …

Reading Classics Together – The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (VII)

After a week’s absence (based on a week’s vacation) I am back today with the next chapter (Chapter 7) of Jeremiah Burroughs’ The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. The topic for this reading is “The Excellence of Contentment.” I do trust that many of you continue to read the book with me. Summary Every week I feel the need to begin with an expression of my affection for this book. Today will be no different! What a great book this …