Equip #3 - Ugly Envy

Ok... picking at this so i should just post it...

the 2nd main talk at Equip was on envy... ewww ugly envy...

main points:

1. envy is personal
it's the pain felt over another's good fortune. different to jealousy or greed as these focus on the object or possessions of others... envy is ill will towards the person
the actions of the envious are intent on destroying somebody else's happiness... so destructive... so ugly!!

2. Gk envy interchangable with jealousy... hard to read. but contextual differences. looked at some bible passages about envy...

3. what causes envy?
- human sinfulness - our selfishness and self-centredness
- when we question God's goodness and are ungrateful.
i think this is hard... envy exposes the fact that we dont trust God
- we enjoy being envied - it kinda follows pride... we want to be looked at and envied. so envy kinda feeds envy and again it's selfishness and the focus on self and our gratification or self esteem issues.

4. envy is destructive
- it poisons our relationship with God. we undermine our own relationship with God by resenting the fact that He has given something good to somebody else.
- it poisons our relationships with others.
enough said really...
- it poisons us. envy doesnt make anybody happy. we arent happy cos envy tends to eat away at you... it only creates pain.

5. how to get rid of envy
- own up - recognise it in yourself
- the Gospel - be reminded of the good gift that has been given to us in Jesus.
- progressing
--> thankfulness
--> understanding what pushes your buttons
--> God's word, the Spirit, other Xn support.

ok that's the summary...
my challenges/encouragement:

i think it has a lot to do with thankfulness and contentment. sometimes it's easier to be discontent and to grumble.
sometimes when we are envious of somebody (or maybe i'm speaking in the context of jealousy cos it's hard to separate the two sometimes...) we only see the thing we are envious/jealous of... like if we envy something about another person's life we dont see that sometimes their situations have a different set of problems. not sure if i'm making sense writing this out but it's clear in my head...

i'm quite a happy go lucky person. i try not to let things get me down too much... but u cant be happy all the time... i guess there isnt anything that i need that i dont have. even though there may be wants. so i'm kinda thankful for that.

i'm grieved at how destructive and yuk and ugly envy looks... just in terms of relationships. how on earth are such yucky thoughts in us... how easy is it for us to be envious... how easily the devil can get inside and make us think such awful things about other people... i just think it's awesome that the solution to that is to focus on what Jesus has done. the fact that our sin is paid for... but also that we can recognise the things that hurt our relationship with God and others... and that the Spirit allows us to change.

awww what a challenging talk... i repent... help me God to be rid of yucky envy cos i wanna be like Jesus...