DEALING WITH ENVY
DAILY DEVOTION
Bible Plan Reading: Genesis 4–6, 1 Chronicles 1: 1 – 4
DEALING WITH ENVY
Genesis 4: 5 – 8 NKJV 5but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” 8Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
Envy is a painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another, joined with the desire to possess the same advantage.
Two brothers offered sacrifices to the Lord as an act of worship. God respected Abel and his sacrifice, but He did not respect Cain’s offering because it was not his best. This teaches us that God respects both the giver and the offering.
Because of envy, Cain became angry when he was not accepted. Yet God came to him to extend grace. In verse 7, we learn that there is always envy lying at the door of the heart of anyone who does not give their best in what they do, i.e skills, work, business, raising children, ministry etc.
Genesis 4:7 shows us that God does not remove envy from us; we are required to take mastery over it. As much as this spirit desires to take over us, God tells us that we must deal with it personally.
There are five things envy does to a person:
1. The spirit of envy comes with profound spiritual blindness to what God has done in your life.
2. At its core, envy is a quarrel with God.
3. The envious heart finds no joy in its own harvest.
4. Envy will reject a direct warning and a gracious way out from God Himself if it means satisfying its impulse to destroy.
5. Envy is a torment to the ungrateful soul.
These are the five practical steps on how to deal with envy:
1. Settle it in your heart that extinguishing another man’s light does not kindle or revive your own; instead, it dims it further.
2. Walk in God’s love. Pray for the success of the person you envy and do something good for them.
3. Cultivate radical gratitude.
4. Pursue godly contentment.
5. Run your own race.
💡 KNOW MORE: Ecclesiastes 4:4 (NLT); Matthew 5:44–46 (KJV)
⭐ HIGHLIGHT: Envy is a painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another, joined with the desire to possess the same advantage.
🙌 PRAYER: Loving Father, I thank You for the grace You have availed to me to deal with envy. I settle it in my heart not to fight other people’s success. I choose to walk in love, cultivate gratitude, and pursue contentment. I receive grace to run my own race. Amen.