Some years ago, I pastored a church in Roswell, New Mexico, home of the alleged alien spacecraft crash in 1947. A ‘little green man’ was not the only strange sighting in Roswell, for there was another individual who I recall as being ‘green with envy.’ I’ll call him Johnny. He was a member of the church’s youth group.
Johnny, in his junior year of high school, was somewhat backwards, and was often bullied by other students. Though he was usually at the root of much of the turmoil surrounding himself, his parents thought he was perfect and claimed that he could never have done the things he was accused of.
Johnny was also infatuated with the most popular girl in the school and thought himself to be her protector. He was envious of any other boy who dated her. One night Johnny’s envy turned to rage as he shot and killed one young suitor. Being caught in the act, he was arrested and charged with first degree murder.
Envy is a terrible thing! Envy caused Cain to kill his brother, Able. Envy caused King Saul and Absolom to try and kill David, sending him on the run into the wilderness. To bring it into modern day, we see envy behind much of the covetousness and greed that causes men to steal from, maim, and even take the life of others. It was certainly true in the case of Johnny.
The word ‘envy’ means ‘to covet, to be bitter, resentful, or to begrudge another.’ Envy is often the result of not being able to obtain what someone else has. In Darren’s case it was simply a matter of: If I can’t have the girl of my dreams, no one else can either.
In his letter to the believers and followers of Christ in Rome, Paul gives some clear instructions as to how we are to walk and conduct ourselves. His words of admonition and caution are equally good instructions for the unbeliever as well. In Romans 13:13-14 he wrote, “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, and not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”
What might begin as simple jealousy begins a downward spiral from envy, covetousness, bitterness, and unimaginable things. King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 14:30 saying, “A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones.” In other words, envy and jealousy eats away at person causing much personal harm.
In Hebrews 13:5 the writer said, “Let your conduct be without covetousness (envy); be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” Things that are obtained through envy, covetous, or strife will never bring us a sense of satisfaction, but rusting in God’s provision will.
Jerry L. Dunn is pastor of Oak Street Baptist Church, 605 E. Oak Street, Kingman.
