A friend of mine is struggling with envy. This friend is involved in a months-long competitive situation for a desirable prize. The person she envies has had several successes, and my friend fears she will be beaten out again. Even worse, she worries she’ll be unhappy over the next months as the competition plays out.
I have advised this friend that life is too short for us to be dominated by envy.
I should know. It’s only within the last year that I realized how susceptible I am to envy. One day while I was praying, I asked God to show me my shortcomings. To my surprise, up popped envy. (I already knew that Pride was one of my pet sins.) I was able to see how many times I have shot myself in the foot because of envy. For example, I could probably benefit from spending time with a writers’ group or with individuals who have published their work in books or magazines. But I’ve never made myself take that step because of…envy.
There’s a reason they call those seven famous sins “deadly.” I always thought it was because they were sins that would condemn you to hell (or purgatory). Wikipedia says, “Theologically, a mortal sin is believed to destroy the life of grace within the person and thus creates the threat of eternal damnation.” Since I’m not Roman Catholic, I never paid those sins much mind.
But now I think that maybe they should be viewed as “deadly” because they can actually have a bad effect on your life. Think about it.
Gluttony: Everyone knows the problems that come with overeating.
Sloth: Everyone also knows the problems of being a couch potato.
Rage or Wrath leads to high blood pressure and cardiovascular injury.
Avarice or Greed: I’m thinking Type A behavior here, which also leads to high blood pressure and cardiovascular injury.
Lust: Even if we only confine this to sexual lust (although the term can imply much more), this can cause all kinds of trouble, starting with disease.
Pride: Proverbs 16:18 is paraphrased, “Pride goeth before a fall.” I don’t know about you, but I could probably write a book about the trouble my pride has caused me over the years!
That leaves Envy. Envy is when someone else has something that you want. It’s a lot like “coveting,” which is prohibited by the 10th Commandment.
Envy can eat you alive—from the inside out. You can get so consumed with wanting what someone else has that you act in ways you shouldn’t or, as in my case, fail to step out in ways that would be beneficial.
These sins are considered “root” sins because they lead to lots of other trickle-down bad behaviors. They also dovetail. Lust and greed. Sloth and gluttony. Pride and avarice. And so on. You can mix-n-match them!
But right now, my message to my friend(s) is: Don’t do as I have done. Instead, recognize and deal with that problem of envy before it kills you.
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