Peace Family, do you need freedom from jealousy and envy? I was recently inspired by my friend LaShunda Mitchell of Grind4God Ministries. She wasn’t speaking to me when she said, “jealousy ends where love begins,” but it was absolutely what I needed to hear.
We all have people whom we envy, or life situations that others seem to be enjoying that we aren’t. We all see a friend or family member on Facebook, or at a family gathering, and wish that we were as well-loved as him, as attractive as her, as successful as him, as happily married with children as her, on the vacation where he is… and the list goes on.
What are some ways that we can specifically love those people, until we are not feeling those ugly pangs of envy anymore? Perhaps we need to start praying for them. Perhaps there is a way that we can start serving them. Maybe we need to look at their lives with compassion, and instead of believing the devil’s lie that they have everything unfairly given to them, we need to actively bless them and lift them up.
No one’s life is perfect, and we will never know the ways that those whom we envy are hurting or struggling. However, when we despise people in our hearts because of the relationships, material possessions, appearances, and successes that they have, we not only are being hateful and conceited by lifting ourselves above that person (it boils down to us believing that we deserve that thing more than they do), but we are also being ungrateful for the blessings that God has given us.
My challenge to you today is to ask 1) what are some of the amazing blessings that God has given me?, and 2) what can I do today to start regarding that person (or those people) I envy with love instead of contempt? Don’t just think about it. Take steps to do it, and you will find that there is so much more freedom when we try to have God’s perspective, and stop looking down on others who have things that we want.
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