Envy and Jealousy

Envy is resentment toward another person's blessings, abilities, or possessions, and the desire to have what they have. Scripture identifies it as a destructive force that rots the bones and produces disorder.

Proverbs 14:30 warns, "A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones." Galatians 5:26 instructs, "Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another." James 3:16 declares, "For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there." Romans 13:13 lists envy alongside other behaviors that believers are to put off. First Corinthians 13:4 affirms that love "does not envy." Envy is incompatible with the love that God calls His people to practice.

Envy poisons the heart by shifting focus from gratitude for what God has given to resentment over what others possess. Scripture calls believers to rejoice with those who rejoice and to trust that God distributes His gifts according to His good purposes. Contentment and thankfulness are the biblical remedies for envy.