Love Does Not Envy

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

LOVE DOES NOT ENVY

1 Cor 13:4-7

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, 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.

NIV

Now that we have garnered the idea of being patient and having kindness, we turn our attention to this attitude of envy. It is interesting, this Greek word translated as envy is the same word that Paul just used to tell them to earnestly desire the greater gifts, or as the KJV says covet earnestly. This Greek word, zeloo, carries the meaning to burn with zeal, to desire earnestly, to pursue. It also has this concept to be heated, to boil, to strive after, and to busy oneself about. We take this longer look at this word because we simply see this English word envy, as to want what someone else has or to be envious of them because they have more than we do. However, it seems more than that. We get the impression that not only do we want what they have, we burn with desire for it and busy ourselves in an effort to get it. Perhaps we are not attempting to steal it from them, but we desire what they have so much that we make every effort to pursue after it, as in, trying to get the same thing. The English definition of envy has this idea of the feeling of discontentment or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions or qualities. This would imply that we either think they are better in some way than we are, or that God has blessed them more than he has us, or that we have such low self-esteem because we don’t have as much as others. However, love does not do that. Because we love, we rejoice about what God has done, is doing in and for someone. Because we have chosen the path of love, we do not feel the need to walk in the life of another, or desire their position in life, or their amount of possessions. Because we choose to love, we do not envy, instead, we are perfectly content in Christ and where he leads us, and how He is working in our life. We think of the potter and the clay, we sing that song, break me, mold me, fill me and use me. It is up to the Lord as to what type and size vessel he molds us into and thus how he uses us for His purpose. Therefore, we are not the same vessel as He molds another, nor are we the same size, for each member of the body of Christ, has its own purpose. The eye cannot say it wants to be the mouth, or because it is not the mouth it does not belong to the body. Love does not envy, it does not burn with desire for something else, whether position or possession. Love does not envy