“Another indicator
that you are caught in the trap of spiritual pride is envy of others' gifts.
Keeping our hearts and envy separated is as difficult as keeping two lovers
from meeting. It is the sin that shed the first blood: Cain's envy hatched
Abel's murder.
Envy is an affront
to the character and person of God. When you envy, you are questioning God's
right to administer His gifts as He sees best. You are also maligning the
goodness of God. You are angry that God wants to bless someone besides you.
Would you not have God be good? You might as well say you would not have Him be
God, for He can no more cease to be good than He can cease to be God! When your
envy prods you to belittle the gifts of other Christians, you are really
belittling God who gave them.
Envy, like its
mother, pride, is the scout for a whole host of other sins. This sin of the
heart goes before and sets the stage for all kinds of sins of the flesh. Saul,
Israel's first king, fell so low as to plot the murder of the very man who had
saved his kingdom. From the day he heard David preferred above himself in the
women's songs, he could not get the sound out of his head. Envy brought him to
hate, which carried him on to plot David's death.
Later on, what did
envy do to David's heart but make him covet the wife of his trusted soldier,
Uriah, and lead him through a maze of lust, lies, adultery, and murder? Not one
of these would have been committed had it not been for that rabble-rouser,
envy. It is a bloody sin-- the womb wherein lies a whole liter of other sins is
formed Romans 1:29. Therefore, unless you are willing to welcome the devil and
his whole train, resist the sin of envy.
To gain mastery of
this sin, you must call in help from heaven. We have a sure promise that the
foundation of our grace is stronger than that of our lusts, but only if we
enlist the Holy Spirit in our behalf: "The spirit that dwells in us lust
to envy. But he gives more grace" James 4:5-6.”
Todays Word is a strong one. Let God show you if you have ever been
caught by envy and then repent.
.
Quoted material from, ”The Christian in Complete
Armour Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare” by Gurnall and James S Bell.
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