Seeds of Discontent - Part 2 - Envy

Seeds of Discontent:  Part 2 – Envy
By Jenn Vaught

Proverbs 14:30 (AMP) A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones. (Emphasis mine)

Got envy?  Yup, me too.  Who hasn’t?  It’s that green eyed monster that spans all lifestyles and social statuses.  No one has been immune.  There is no amount of money that can cure it, there is always someone more rich.  There is always someone with a better home, better marriage, better kids, better looks, better this and better that.  For some reason it seems to me that women are more prone to this than men.  It’s one of those “sister sins” we struggle with like anxiety that I talked about in my previous article. 

There is only one answer that can cure envy and that’s contentment and thankfulness in Christ.  Contentment and thankfulness isn’t something that just happens, it’s a decision you make every single day.  To sing every morning that old hymn, “This is the day that the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it!”  I don’t see how anyone can have these two things without Christ.  To me, it seems impossible.    

Some people can mistake satisfaction with contentment.  To me, these are two very different things.  Satisfaction is more like settling for where you are in life, you may not like where that is, but you are merely satisfied with it.  Mick Jagger couldn’t even “get no satisfaction!”   But seriously, contentment in Christ seems to take that satisfaction further helping you to become thankful to be where you are and who you are with at this very time and moment and you are at peace with your future, no matter what.  They fit naturally together and go hand in hand, like a man and a woman, a husband and a wife.  “Faith does for living what sunshine does for stained glass windows.” Gerta Schaffner                        

CHALLENGE:  Are you just merely satisfied or are you content and thankful in all circumstances?  If not, take the time to ask God to help you become better at fighting these monster feelings that can make or change our attitudes every single day!  1 Peter 2:1 (NIV) Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. (Emphasis mine)