ENVY

Posted on June 4, 2018 by America's Keswick in Freedom Fighters

I don’t ever want to get to the place in my life that I am unteachable or become so arrogant to think that I have all the answers.

Welcome to this new week of Freedom Fighters. I am thankful for the 400+ guys who are tracking with us each week by email in addition to those men reading the blog on our website.

I love how the Holy Spirit gently but firmly can drive into our hearts stuff we need to learn. Today’s devotional is not MINE – but I needed to hear this in my own life. It is from Dr. Paul David Tripp on the subject of envy, and it is from his daily devotional, NEW MORNING MERCIES.

Do you ever battle with envy? Have you ever wondered why someone else’s life seems easier than yours? Have you ever struggled to celebrate the blessings of someone else who had what you thought you needed? Have you ever wished you could just switch lives with someone? Perhaps there are ways in which envy haunts us all, so it’s worth examining the heart of envy. What things prepare the heart for envy?

1. Envy is forgetful. In concentrating on what we don’t have that we think we should have, we fail to keep in mind the huge catalog of blessings that are ours simply because God has chosen to place his bountiful love on us. This forgetfulness causes us to do more comparing and complaining than praising and resting.
2. Envy misunderstands blessing. So often envy is fueled by misunderstanding what God’s care looks like. It is not always the care of provision, relief, or release. Sometimes God’s blessing comes in the form of trials that are his means of giving us things we could get no other way.
3. Envy is selfish. Envy tends to put us in the center of our own worlds. It tends to make everything about our comfort and ease, our wants, needs, and feelings, and not about the plan and the glory of the God we serve.
4. Envy is self-righteous. Envy has an “I deserve _____ more than they do” posture to it. It forgets that we all deserve immediate and eternal punishment, and that any good thing we have is an undeserved gift of God’s amazing grace.
5. Envy is shortsighted. Envy has a right here, right now aspect to it that overlooks the fact that this moment is not all there is. Envy cannot see that this moment isn’t meant to be a destination, but a preparation for a final destination that will be beautiful beyond our wildest imagination
6. Envy questions God’s wisdom. When you and I envy, we tend to buy into the thought that we are smarter than God. In envy, we tend to think we know more and better, and if our hands were on the joystick, we would be handling things a different way.
7. Envy is impatient. Envy doesn’t like to wait. Envy complains quickly and tires easily. Envy doesn’t just cry for blessings; it cries for blessings now. What is devastating about envy is that it questions God’s goodness, and when you do that, you quit running to him for help. So cry out for rescue— that God would give you a thankful, humble, and patient heart. His transforming grace is your only defense against envy.

Tripp, Paul David. New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional (Kindle Locations 3474-3493). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Well if we are honest, we all have probably struggled at some point with envy in our lives. Or maybe it IS just me. What Paul Tripp said was something I needed. And just maybe, it you are struggling, it will help you too.

Overflowing and abounding with hope,

Bill Welte, President/CEO
America’s Keswick

Written by Bill Welte, President/CEO of America’s Keswick: Bill has been married to his child sweetheart for 40+ years and has four married kids and 11 amazing grand kids. He loves music and is an avid reader.

The Daily Bible Reading: Proverbs 4-6 |You can download our 2018 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here

Think About This: “God will not give me humility, or patience, or holiness, or love as separate investments of His grace. He has given only one gift to meet our need, His Son Christ Jesus.” ― Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

I rise before the dawning of the morning, And cry for help; I hope in Your word. Psalm 119:147