Envy vs. Kindness (Love)

Envy vs. Kindness (Love)


Deadly Sin and Heavenly Virtue (Fruit of the Spirit)

"Anger is relentless, and wrath overwhelming-but before jealousy who can stand?" Proverbs 27:4

"But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth." James 3:14-16

"Let not kindness and fidelity leave you; bind them around your neck;" Proverbs 3:3

"A kindly man benefits himself, but a merciless man harms himself." Proverbs 11:17

"Do to others whatever you would have them do to you,  This is the law and the prophets."  Mathew 7:12

"And the king will say to them in repky, "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." Colossians 3:12

"See that no one returns evil for evil; rather, always seek what is good (both) for each other and for all." 
1 Thessalonians 5:15



Envy is the desire for your neighbor’s property, status or situation. It is also the last Commandment, “Thou shall not covet your neighbor's goods.” In other words, it is when you wish you had it and they didn't have it. No matter what we have (own), you always want more, and more and more. It is also not being happy for the well-being of others, not caring about their joys and successes. It's thinking how good things always happen to someone else or that person doesn't work as hard as you and doesn't deserve the good things they have received. It is wishing you were as smart, popular or as good at sports as someone else and thinking you should have these characteristics instead. Sometimes it’s being jealous of that person for getting away with something. It makes you so angry, resentful that you start feeling sorry for yourself because someone has more than you. You may start wishing them ill and you behave badly to them, plotting evil plans for them.

Has something like this happened to you? You set your eyes on something that your friend has and you want it so badly. You know you'd be much happier if you only had what your neighbor has. Then you realize there's no way you can have it and that makes you want it even more. "That person doesn't deserve it then since I can't have it!" Then it becomes more about the desiring of the object than the possession itself. You want to rise above others and become better than them. This will backfire and only make you suffer and experience negative emotions and feel inferior to them.

Kindness is having a friendly and good-natured attitude toward others. It is having a positive outlook and cheerful demeanor, and this quality can help you make and keep friendships. It is having the attitude of knowing, liking and accepting other people, even someone you may not like very well. It is accepting them the way they are because that is how God made them. Kindness means taking a tender approach and having patience and compassion.  It is the "golden rule" of treating others the way you would want to be treated. It encourages you to be good to everyone and having unconditional love towards all others. That way you can really care, help and trust others and you can inspire others to do the same. Kindness is also when you make sacrifices for others which helps you to be in God's image and likeness.

You are commanded to love your neighbors as ourselves as Jesus did. Just like in the story of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan showed a great deal of kindness for the Jewish man who was hurting, even though Samaritans were not liked and often mistreated by the Jews. It is easy to be kind to those you like and those who like you. Are you willing to put your own hurt feelings aside to help someone that has not been kind in return? Jesus tells us that we are to show mercy to all ... not just the people we like.  Jesus not only forgave his enemies but loved them and so should you.

You can speak a kind word or do a good deed. You should practice saying lots of kind words and do lots of kind things and be especially kind to your loved ones.  When you do good deeds for others, you've done a good deed for God.  Gentle words are better than harsh words, and good deeds are better than the other kind. Kind words help and cruel words hurt. That means to not gossip about others or listen to people who do (saying something about them that you wouldn't normally say if they were standing in earshot of you). It may be tempting to say bad things about people, and it can even make us feel important for awhile. But those bad things hurt others and they will come back and hurt you, too. You can also pray for the needs of others and ask God to place kindness and mercy in your heart.  If someone doesn't treat you kindly or mistreats others, ask God to give you a merciful heart and kind attitude toward that person. And don't forget to thank God when someone treats you with a good and kind heart.

God wants you to be good and kind to everyone, especially the less fortunate. He will show you the needs of others and fill your heart with joy as you help people. When we are in trouble, it is God who sends us help through others. When God gives us a way to help others, that is what we must do. He will bless us and them too!   We should treat both our friends and our enemies with kindness.  If you're waiting for other people to be nice to you before you be nice to them, then you have it backwards. It starts with you. When someone is discouraged or sad, you can take the matter into your own hands and think of something you can do to cheer them up. When you say the right words at the right time to someone, you give them a gift that can change someone's day or even someone's life. It's up to you to step in and lend a helping hand and encourage others.