Envy | AdventAI

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 12, 1869

Envy.

This is one of the fruits of the flesh, i. e., of man's fallen nature. It is one of the meanest and most despicable of all those qualities that make up the carnal mind. It is that principle which makes men unhappy to witness the prosperity of others. It is that which would pull others down lest they be more honored or happier than ourselves. It is that which would make others wretched because we are. It would mar and blast the happiness of others because we do not wish them to be better off than ourselves. It would even grudge them a share in the blessings ourselves possess, lest we be no longer able to look down upon them as less favored than ourselves. It is a base, contemptible passion, without one redeeming feature, or one particle of excuse for its existence. It is a compound of pride, selfishness and cruelty.

Saul is a striking example of an envious man. He was made wretched by the honors conferred on David, 1 Sam. xviii. His son Jonathan is one of the most noble examples of a man raised by the grace of God above this mean and hateful quality of fallen nature. David's advancement was wholly at Jonathan's expense. Jonathan knew this perfectly, but never for a moment did one selfish trait of this kind manifest itself in him. The spirit of envious Saul can never have an entrance into the kingdom of God. We must be as free from it as was noble Jonathan. What the grace of God did for him, it can do for us.