A sense of pride would fill my heart each time I proved my toughness by rising from a tumble in the lawn with bright green stains on the knees of my jeans and a toothy grin on my face. The scents of broken blades of grass smeared with the sweaty summer skin of a young girl are forever embedded in my memory as pure bliss.
As a grown up now none of my jeans have grass stained knees. Rather the knees of my heart have become rubbed green as I have been tumbling into envy as of late. It is with bashful shame that I bring before you a part of my life that I am not proud about in the least. I desire envy to be eliminated.
Green is my favorite color. It will serve to remind me of a part of my character that I am bringing to the submission of Christ. I no longer want to be an envious person. I procure to be of a sound heart.
Envy, to me, means to covet what someone else has. It is mentioned in the Ten Commandments as something we mustn’t do. It is listed as a sin in the New Testament as well. Envy is a human trait not to be partaken of by the people of God.
The opposite of envy is a sound heart. As we fear the Lord we commit our way to him and find delight in him. Our trust in him allows us to have his kind of envy-free love towards others. His grace and mercy provide a way out of an envious attitude.
How to remove it from my life? Recently I have been noticing envy encroaching upon some of my attitudes. I have been envious of others’: talents, possessions, relationships, spiritual discipline, ministries, physical appearance and opportunistic tendencies. I want it to be eliminated.
These are the seven verses I will be studying in the coming days about envy: Psalm 37:1-6, Proverbs 14:30, Proverbs 23:17-18, Acts 7:9, 1 Corinthians 13:4, Titus 3:3-7, and James 4:5-6.
To be continued.
angie washington 
I like you Nook pic (especially the little delicate edges you put on the pic…too cool!).
I love the focused look of the little girl in the picture…I think I’ve seen that same look in your eyes when you’re thinking.
I’m looking forward to part 2, too!
P.S. So glad you’re feeling better!
@Libby – My great aunt tells me I haven’t changed a bit since the day I was born.
Envy is subtle and eventually destroys relationships…God had a good reason for telling us to NOT envy.
Your pic is so cute..awwwwwwwwwwww waiting for the second part…mmmmmmm…wonder how long it will take….like should I do my chores or just wait?
@Darla – Not that I would tell you to go do your chores (no no no), but I will tell you that I am a once a day poster so we are taking this growth process one day at a time. Maybe you would like to go and read a book. ;-)
:lol: read a book..do chores..mmmm decisions…
Oh, this is good. Well, not the actual struggle but the honesty and willingness to share. I don’t like to see this part of me, but it’s there. And like Darla said, it does ruin relationships. Man! Of course, being one of the top ten, He knows it’s a huge struggle. I do take comfort in that.
Thanks for the challenge and the willingness to be vulnerable.
FYP
Thanks for letting your heart be transparent… this is how we walk the road of faith and growth together. I’m learning from you as you learn…
Great lesson and parallels of “green” – what “great” aunt are you talking about? I only know a couple and that not very well. I love that pic of you! Should be a painting maybe!
Angie, I have to be honest and say it’s comforting to hear your struggles in the sense that I think it allows us all to identify with you, but also to catch glimpses of the human “ness” in you. It’s so easy to put on our tough and perfect exterior, but to allow others in to see the inner workings of our hearts and our faith is a step of courage and a step of wisdom I believe. God bless you friend… and how does Monday morning look for you?
i think that we all have to deal with envy every once in a while. The question is do we recognize it when we have to.
Thank you for being so open with what you’re struggling with Ange. I’ve never really understood what ‘coveting’ means – and now I know! Envy. Something I really need to work on.
I read a book on envy once. a very good post, m’lady.
Envy is one of those things that, when it’s recognized, makes me sick to my stomach. it feels so much better to be of sound mind.
some things i fight envy for: a disciplined study life, perfect skin, money in the bank.
@Michelle – You are so kind. I am of the firm belief that vulnerability is the path to healing.
@Amy R. – ‘Together’ is the the only way I could bring myself to deal with this area of my life. If I hadn’t made it public I don’t think I would have dealt with it. Thank you for being kind to me as I open up.
@My sister the painter :-) – Great Aunt Birdie (at least that is the way I know her), Grandma Houtz’s sister that travels aaaaaall over.
@Laura – Thank you for your soothing words. Our pastor in the States encourages the members of the church to eat together. He says that the table serves to share your stars and your scars. I am emailing you for Monday. :-)
@DaRonn – Hi babe! :-) The question is also what do we do with it?
@Sheep – By the way, I know your name is Alan but I like calling you Sheep. I hope you don’t mind. I appreciate your kind reception to the exposition of my shortcomings.
@Amy E. – The good fight of faith, eh? Yes, I understand you.
Mmmmm … Envy of this kind makes me sad. Its aim is to rob a BEAUTIFUL life of all the joy God sees in it. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! reading on ….
I’m glad your back, I look forward to what God is teaching us:-)
Carin
@Anita la bellisima – Thank you, friend.
@Carin – It is good to be back. :-)
I’m like you mentioned…struggling with this with other Christians, not the wicked.
Pete at without wax, wrote a couple weeks ago that he was going to preach on something along these lines. I keep meaning to download his sermon.
I’ll go do that now.
@Thumbuddy – Messages on-line are wonderful.
thank you for your honesty and transparency… i know God honors that..