Envy

Here is something I read on Facebook.

Envy

by Zach Whitsel

When I was a teenager, I used to ride the bus to school most of the time. I became pretty good friends with another guy on the bus during that time. We didn’t have any classes together at school but we had a lot of interests in common, and we had a great time sharing a bench on that bus every week!

I got my driver’s license the day after I turned sixteen. I had saved all my money from working summers at Dad’s place for a couple of years, and I had bought a car. My bus riding days were officially over! I can’t even describe how excited I was to park in the student lot and walk into my high school with keys in my hands! However, there was one guy who did not share in my excitement. In fact, I lost a friend and gained an enemy the week I started driving. If you guessed the guy who was still riding the bus, you would be right.

It’s easy to spot envy in other people. When you step up from one level to the next and someone in your close peer group all of the sudden doesn’t like you anymore, envy is the clear culprit. When the envy is in our own hearts, however, it can be extremely difficult to see. To recognize envy we also have to recognize inferiority, and that is next to impossible for most of us. We like to think we are the standard. We like to think that all those who are behind us need to catch up and that all those who are up ahead of us are cheaters. Instead of recognizing reality, we find “good reasons” not to like them. We are indignant about their methods. We pretend to know how crooked their motives are. We imagine all sorts of stuff that isn’t there. Why? Because we wish we were where they are and we are too proud to admit it. Isn’t that silly?

Who have you been cold toward lately? If someone is heading down a bad path, most good people feel feelings of sympathy for that person. If there is someone out there right now that you would enjoy watching fail, that’s a good indication that the problem is your own. If we don’t recognize these feelings and sort through them, we will never be able to grow like we need to. Not to mention we might throw away some God-sent friends.

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