The word “envy” etymologically means to look with ill-will, to look against. By definition “envy” is chagrin or discontent at the excellence or good fortune of another; resentful, begrudging. Jealousy and envy are to be distinguished in the following manner. We are jealous of our own; we are envious of another man’s possessions or good fortune. Jealousy fears to lose what it has; envy is pain at seeing another have. In setting forth the sins that come from within, out of the heart of men, Jesus lists “an evil eye” (Mark 7:21-22). Sometimes “an evil eye” is translated “envy.” The sin of envy is indeed the evil eye.

Envy pains and destroys a man like a knife in the chest; it splits churches and causes murders. Envy can shrink our circle of friends, ruin our business and dwarf our souls. Our personality and spiritual welfare are ruined by envy. Proverbs 14:30 says, “A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.” Job 5:2 says, “For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.” There is a Greek story about a young man who killed himself through envy that illustrates well the foregoing passage. This man’s fellow citizens had erected a statue to one of their number who was a celebrated champion in the public games. But this man, a rival of the honored athlete, was so envious that he vowed that he would destroy the statue. Every night he went out into the darkness and chiseled at its base in an effort to undermine its foundation and make it fall. It did fall—but it fell on him and killed him.

Sometimes we are tempted to envy the wicked man, but the Bible warns us of this. “Let not thine heart envy sinners” (Proverbs 23:17). “Neither be thou envious against them that work unrighteousness” (Psalm 37:1). Envying the wicked of his prosperity or apparent happiness does not make us happy or rich. It does not add one dollar to our assets but it does bankrupt the soul.

Neither should we envy our closest friends. Joseph’s brethren were envious of him (Genesis 37:11). They sold him into Egyptian slavery. But in the end a perilous famine forced them to recognize Joseph’s superiority. Their envy impoverished their lives, and Joseph came out on top. Envy is a boomerang-like weapon which hurts the attacker more than the attacked.

The envious man somehow feels that other people’s fortune is his misfortune, that their success is his failure and that their blessing is his curse. The antidote for envy is genuine love cultivated for our fellow man. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:4, “love envieth not.” —J. Noel Merideth