Words to Treasure
A peaceful heart gives life to the body. But jealousy rots the bones.
Proverbs 14:30
Wes only intended to go over and check out Brendon’s new mountain bike. It was absolutely Wes’ dream bike, and here it was, just dumped on the wet lawn. Brendon didn’t deserve a bike like this. Before he knew what was happening, Wes was riding the bike down the road. Only a test drive. But he was so distracted that he didn’t see the car pulling out of the driveway. He hit the car and flew over the hood onto the ground. He knew without looking that both he and Brendon’s new bike were trashed.
Envy is wanting something that somebody else has. It’s a big bad dog of an emotion that, when out of control, can bite us when we least expect it. It can make us do crazy wrong things because we get full of jealousy and anger. How do we stop it? Be content with what we have and work hard to follow our own dreams.
People in Bible Times
Genesis 4:1 – 16 is the story of two brothers, Cain and Abel. Cain was a gardener, and Abel was a shepherd. Both men presented offerings to God Abel always made sure he gave God only the best from his flock. God was very pleased with him but not so much with Cain. Instead of giving God his best crop Cain offered his worst stuff. And, then he got the worst case of brother jealousy and envy in history and killed his brother Abel in a rage. Envy = evil.