Envy
Posted by Adam Desmond on February 14, 2010
Today in Sunday School we were talking about James 4:2:
“You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, and you can’t possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them.”
For some reason this verse really didn’t resonate with me. I don’t see many people I know this consumed with envy. Sure, there is always something better than what we have, but America is so wealthy, I wonder if another form of this same sin is more prevalent today. In the next verse James tells us the real reason for these envious feelings:
“…you want only what will give you pleasure.”
Today we live in a society of instant gratification. When we want something that will give us pleasure, we simply go get it. As Americans, everyone but the very poorest in our society is susceptible to this mindset. Food, TV, sex, drugs, the internet, sports, movies, TV, they all cater to our new mindset. This mindset allows us a more passive approach to satiating our envy. Instead of fighting to take away from another, we simply substitute another pleasure.
And the most concerning part of this is that some of these pleasures are not sinful. Even James didn’t villify what his readers envied, but instead blamed them for seeking the things of this world before seeking God.
You see, God wants us to be happy. He wants us to come to Him so that He can give us good things. Our banner verse talks about God giving us the richest of fare. And in many cases what God wishes to give us is exactly what we could purchase ourselves.
This morning my daughter and I went to get donuts before church, and, being Valentine’s day, they made some heart-shaped donuts with chocolate and sprinkles. Well, as soon as she saw them, my daughter’s eyes lit up, and I knew she wanted one. We began discussing whether I would give her one, while the man in line in front of us watched with a quiet smile on his face. I let her know that she could have one, and the man in line voiced his pleasure with my decision, saying, “if you hadn’t bought her one, I would have. In fact, I’ll pay for it.” And he did. My daughter said thank you and we walked outside. I explained that I thought God had provided that donut for her, His special gift to her on Valentine’s Day to make her feel loved. He could have provided this donut through me, but he chose to do so through the kindness of a stranger to help us both see something.
So many times we don’t stop to think about a good thing, even a noble thing, and ask whether God wants us to have it. For even a selfless act has selfish aspects to it. It makes us feel good to make others feel good. And it isn’t that God will necessarily say “No” to our request (though He certainly does), sometimes He simply wants to share with us that He is the one providing this for us. He wants to share in the joy we receive in even the simplest of pleasures, from helping a friend to eating a delicious meal, to a donut shaped like a heart and covered with chocolate and sprinkles. God is the giver of all good gifts, and yet we deprive Him of sharing His pleasure with us when we simply go out and get them ourselves.
Let’s try to remember to include God in even the simplest of decisions. He wants so much to show us, at every available opportunity, how precious we are to Him. How much He loves us. And when we give Him that chance, many times we’ll find that we end up with the very thing our heart desired, sweetened by the love and generosity with which it was given.
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