WATCHWORD:
1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of grow up in your salvation … 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1 Peter 2:1-3
Meditation:
Envy
How would you define envy? My Webster’s gives me multiple definitions for envy. As a noun they list jealousy, resentment, covetousness, as examples. As a verb, they list crave, desire, hanker, lust, jones (never heard of that one), pant, as examples. That is quite a list.
Okay, so, what would you say is the opposite of envy, other than putting a “not” or an “un” before each? Not a trick question. I suppose contentment would be one. Where does envy fit into the Christian walk?
As we’ve gone through the stages of development from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, there have been multiple times when we have compared ourselves with others, and maybe we have come away feeling like we didn’t measure up, or we felt superior or smarter or faster.
How about celebration as the opposite of envy? In a recent Our Daily Bread writer Marilyn McEntyre tells about a friend who taught her that the opposite of envy was celebration. Her friend had a physical disability and chronic pain which prevented her from developing her talents and yet, somehow, she embodied joy and celebration in her relationships with others. What kind of strength of character turns disability into celebration? Living out her God-given purpose.
I think about Joni Eareckson Tada who embodies the same kind of character, rising above her catastrophic disability, to sing and write joy. Living out her God-given purpose.
I think about what I believe in my faith, that I don’t always practice, and that is, I am created by God and I am perfect for his purpose for me in my Christian walk.
Envy is an easy trap to fall into. At my age, I wish I was younger. Come to think of it, I wish I was this and I wish I was that and I wish I was…etc. All of those wishes are just like fishes that swim away when I realize whose I am. When I realize that I am God’s child, and I am perfectly made. So are you.
In 1 Peter 2, he tells us that the only way to rid ourselves of the lies that envy tells us is to be deeply rooted in the truth that God is good and that God loves us, and our task is to live out the enduring word of God to the best of our abilities, those same abilities that God has given us. So, we are perfectly made. No grounds for envy. Let’s celebrate! Amen.
Today’s Lenten Passage to Ponder:
2 Corinthians 12:9-10: Each time he said, “No. But I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people.” Now I am glad to boast about how weak I am; I am glad to be a living demonstration of Christ’s power, instead of showing off my own power and abilities. Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite happy about “the thorn,” and about insults and hardships, persecutions and difficulties; for when I am weak, then I am strong—the less I have, the more I depend on him.
Lenten Prayer:
Dear Father God, thank you for not expecting perfection from me. You know I make mistakes, and that’s why you sent Jesus to save me from all my sins. Here I am, Lord, trying again, despite all the times I have fallen short. Thank you for your grace. Amen.
