Monday, July 3, 2006, Part 1
"Love does not envy" (1 Corinthians 13:4).
IDEA: Envy must be separated from jealousy and emulation.
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says that love does not envy.
If we envy, we don’t love;
if we love, we won’t envy.
Does that strike you as being true to life?
Is envy always a lack of love?
I. How does jealousy differ from envy?
Jealousy and envy are like twins, but they are fraternal twins, not identical twins. Sometimes the terms are used interchangeably.
Where they are contrasted with one another, jealousy is intolerant of a rival or of unfaithfulness.
Jealousy is a child of love.
When someone “belongs to us,” and that person is taken away, we become jealous. We desire the person who is rightfully ours.
The country singer sings about “my jealous heart.”
God is jealous. The statement in the Ten Commandments deals with His people worshiping other gods.
"You shall not make for yourself a carved image–any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments" (Exodus 20:4-6).
Envy, on the other hand, is a resenting of some gift, ability, or possession that another person has.
Jealousy makes us fear to lose what we rightfully possess. Envy creates sorrow that others have what we have not.
II. What is the difference between envy and emulation?
Is it wrong for me to recognize that you have particular gift or ability and to want that kind of ability for myself? Paul says at the end of 1 Corinthians 12, “Earnestly desire the best gifts.” He endorses desiring the best gifts. He also says it in 1 Corinthians 14:1.
When could it be something positive, and when might it become something sinful?
Emulation sees the benefit of another person’s ability and would like that ability without in any way diminishing the other person. It can be a stimulus to good works.
It becomes sinful when it leads to rivalry. The focus then falls on being better than the other person rather than on having a gift to benefit others.
Conclusion: While envy is always wrong, jealousy and emulation can be good, but can also be corrupted.