Envy is the act of resenting the good fortune of others. Similar to jealousy, which is the fear of losing what you already have, envy is about wanting what you don’t have and wanting others to not have what they have. Envy sees the talents, abilities, achievements and good fortune of others as a reason to dislike them. (FRANCINE MORRISSETTE)
What’s so deadly about envy? Isn’t a little envy okay, too? Friends envy friends all the time. Neighbors envy neighbors all the time.
Envy diminishes our humanity. It’s actually a form of self-hatred. Envy may start with a sort of self-love, because I want something to supposedly better myself. By when I am envious, I am not loving myself. I am not grateful for, or happy in, what I am or what I have. The sin is deadly, because it will not let me live as myself. And envy not only disparages self, it disparages others, and it disparages the One who created us both. Everyone is a loser, with envy.
There is no pleasure in envy, no joy, even for a moment. It’s a sad sin. It weighs heavily. It pulls down.
There is an antidote for envy. The antidote for envy is what the Hebrew Scriptures call “hesed” – loving-kindness.
If envy diminishes self, and others, and God, love is the fulfillment of self, others, and God. When we are oriented toward God and others, in sacrificial love, how could we possibly harbor envy? The good of the other becomes our good. The joy of the other is our joy. The success of the other is our success. (PHIL KNISS)