Slaying the Green-eyed Monster

Wednesday evening at a quilt guild meeting I listened to senior founding members of the guild and watched them being applauded for their accomplishments. Most of them started quilting as children, but I didn’t. I made my first quilt about 10-12 years ago. I was tempted by jealousy.

God offers a wonderful cure for envy and jealousy. It isn’t to have or be all that I want to have or be, thus eliminating any desire to have what others have. That never works. I learned early in life that no matter how good I might be at something, or how much I might have of something, there would always be another person who could do better or had a bigger collection. But knowing that didn’t stop the envy.

Contentment helps. Realizing that God gives me all that I need helps. My mother’s saying, “We must need it or we wouldn’t be getting it” has that other side to it; God knows what is best for me. Contentment comes out of trusting Him.

This morning I read two more cures for envy. Proverbs 23:17-18 says, “Do not let your heart envy sinners, but be zealous for the fear of the Lord all the day; for surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off.”

The first cure is to focus my zeal about having more of anything on having more of the fear of the Lord. Can I ever have enough of the proper awe and respect for Him? The more I focus on that, the less I will notice or care about anything else.

The second one is having an eternal perspective. There is a hereafter and God has promised me life there with Him. What difference does it make what happens here in terms of bigger, better and more? If I turn my heart toward temporary accomplishments, I might achieve them, but after life is over, then what happens to all that? Can I take any medals, awards, citations, or collections of stuff with me? Of course not.

The only things that last for eternity are human souls and the commendations of God. When I concentrate on doing those things that result in a “well done” from Him, then I won’t care at all about anything else or be envious of any person who can do, has done, or has more than I do. Zeal for God and an eternal perspective offer a joyous and wonderful freedom from that green-eyed monster called envy!