Rejoice in Others Success
Biblical Overview of Envy and Jealousy
James 3:14 “But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” Envy is a deadly sin. Cain murdered Abel because he became envious of his brother’s success with God. If he had been glad for his brother and rejoiced in his success, the outcome would have been different. The Word of God shows that envy is not from God but earthly and demonic. Joseph’s brothers envied him and plotted to kill him. When that didn’t work, they sold him into slavery. There is nothing that showed Joseph did wrong to his brothers. Their hatred for him was rooted in envy.
1 Corinthians 3:3 shows us that if we have envy and strife, we are still of the world. It is crucial that when we come to Christ, we put off the old and put on the new (Ephesians 4:22-24). We should no longer be thinking and behaving like we used to. We have new wine from Jesus and must be in new wineskins (Matthew 9:17). The old wine, that is, the way we used to think and behave, has no place in the new wineskins as it will corrupt them.
So it is clear that envy has no place among God’s people. So why do we still see it? Why do practicing Christians still have envy in their hearts and find it difficult to rejoice in the success and breakthroughs of others? Envy can seriously affect the person who is harboring it. It can give you pain, death, unhappiness, incarceration, and make you sick.
What Others Say About Envy
Aristotle defined envy as pain at the sight of another’s good fortune. Bertrand Russel said that envy is one of the most potent causes of unhappiness. Envy comes from the heart and so defiles the body. James 3:16 “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.” One of the problems that the church face is that we take envy lightly. We underestimate it and think it’s just a harmless emotion. The scriptures show us how deadly envy really is. Therefore, it is critical that we come away from it for our sake.
Envy Can Make You Sick
Envy can make a person sick. We focus so much on food making us sick that we forget the dark things of the heart are the main culprits for incurable illnesses. Proverbs 14:30 states, A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot. Not only would envy make the bone rot, but it will also make your heart sick. When your heart is sick, you can have severe heart problems leading to heart attacks. Worry is another effect of envy as you try to get what others have. You are contemplating how to get something that may not even be part of God’s plans for you. This worry can result in stress, and stress leads to high blood pressure and other non-communicable diseases.
Envy Creates Contentions In Every Area Of Your Life
About five years ago, Charlene was promoted to supervisor. When this was announced, it took the Manager’s prompting to get the staff to congratulate her. Charlene was obviously disappointed that her co-workers were not glad for her. That resulted in many uncomfortable situations between her and some staff members she directly supervised. I am sure that you have seen or heard of many similar cases where others were envious of the successful person instead of rejoicing with them. Like Joseph, Envy caused a great sin to be committed among brothers. That would have resulted in much distrust, lies, and isolation among the brothers and the family as a whole. Just imagine when another family member or a servant mentioned Joseph’s name; the uneasiness that would have resulted. The brothers would have known what really happened to Joseph but couldn’t tell the truth because of their role.
Envy Hurts The Envier
Mark 7:21-22 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.” So, you see, envy is in the same category as murder, stealing, and slander. When you don’t have a thankful heart, you allow envy to grow. This can result in dishonesty. That is, you may go out of your way and use dishonest means to get what that person has, even stealing from that person. In either case, when you are found out, you could lose your job and end up in prison.
It can get so bad where the desire overtakes you, and you kill the person or do them great harm to deprive them of what they have. Again, that can lead to your hurt by getting a lengthy prison term or retaliation from the person you did harm to, resulting in your death. Envy is certainly very ugly, and we need to pay more attention to it and remove it from our hearts before it is too late.
The Church is Not Immune
Unfortunately, the church is not immune to this destructive emotion. Instead of rejoicing for our brothers and sisters in Christ, we become jealous. When a person is promoted to lead the children’s ministry, worship team, or another ministry, others become jealous because they feel they should have been selected. The Word of God speaks directly against those attitudes. Many are praying for breakthroughs, and God blesses one first with the breakthrough before the others, and there is envy. This is dangerous and unacceptable behavior. The holy spirit is grieved (Ephesians 4:30) as a result of these types of attitudes. When the Holy Spirit is grieved, we cannot access His power to do God’s work as Jesus did, and our service to God is watered-down.
Solution
What is the solution to this prevailing attitude in our churches? The first thing we need to do is fully understand that our service or work is to God. Not only when we are at church, but also when we are at work, home and recreation. This is vital because it allows our light to shine and encourages others to become a part of us. Next, the congregation needs to be taught the Word related to this sinful emotion and how destructive it can be, even leading to murder.
Promotion comes from God (Psalm 75:6) and not from man. It is imperative to know what God’s will is for your life. It is possible He did not promote you because where you are now is not where He wants you to be. This is only part of your training to bring you into all He has for you.
From the many examples around us, it is not difficult to see that this problem still plagues humanity and is also prevalent in the church. The Bible gives us glaring examples of the damage it can do to us and others. Therefore we need to obey God’s Word and learn to rejoice in the success of others. There isn’t anything that God cannot fix through pray. So if jealousy was a part of your past life before you met Jesus, you could now pray for healing, and He will clean you of it. He has cleansed me of many wrong mindsets, and He will do it for you if you would submit to Him and let Him work His miracles in you.
Rejoicing can become even more challenging as we embrace God’s commands and try to be totally pleasing to Him. We are told not to be envious of the successes of the wicked. Psalm 24:1 – 2 “Do not be envious of wicked men or wish you were with them, because they plan violence, and they are always talking about trouble.”
This can be very challenging as many Christians become envious when they see the wicked prospering financially while they struggle to make ends meet. Some may wonder if that is fair. However, the Word of God states clearly, we should not envy the wicked. Therefore we need to obey. Obedience is better than sacrifice.
This is the solution. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.
And, Song of Solomon 8:7: Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away.
That is the scripture verse that will cure you of every ounce of envy. Love! If you obey this scripture verse and show love, then envy doesn’t stand a chance. Love conquers all. Notice it addresses the current concern: “It does not envy.” Unfortunately, some Christians do not know how to love. In fact, most people naturally assume that they know how to love and have lots of love. When we measure their love up to God’s definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13: 4 -5, we find them sorely lacking.
We need to rejoice with each other. We pray for each other, but when the other person gets their breakthrough first, we become jealous and burn with envy. When you rejoice in another person’s success, God will bless you immensely. You can thank God for their success. Not that the person isn’t thanking Him, but by talking to God and thanking Him profusely from the bottom of your heart for His unwavering love for your friend, He will greatly reward you. That is where you need to come to and show love for others and their achievements.
Never be envious when your friends, family, or enemies come into prosperity before you. Instead, be joyful and give thanks to God. In Romans 12:15, you are told to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. In other words, show empathy, not resentment. Jesus wept with Mary at Lazarus’ tomb. Jesus was at the wedding feast when He turned water into wine. A banquet is a place of rejoicing, and Jesus donated the best wine at the reception. That shows He was elated for the couple. He rejoiced with them.
Zephaniah 3:17 shows that God will rejoice with you. We, therefore, need to emulate His examples. We are told in Philippians 2:3 to do nothing from selfish ambition and in Romans 15:2 to please our neighbor. Rejoicing with others is, therefore, a Kingdom principle and must not be ignored.
All of us, at one time or the other, found it difficult to rejoice in the joy of another person. Yet as believers, we should be the first to rejoice with those who rejoice, especially if those rejoicing are brothers and sisters in the Lord. Do you have difficulty rejoicing with others? Is it because you feel they have received something you deserved? Repent of such attitudes and ask God to help you learn to rejoice with others truly. Ask Him to fill your heart with love because it is love that overcomes envy.
I want to encourage you to totally embrace the Kingdom Mentality and begin now to rejoice in the joy of others. Show gratitude and have a genuinely positive attitude towards all. God will raise you more significantly than you can imagine.
