Picking
up where we left off…Love (fruit of the spirit) does not envy. Dictionary.com
defines envy as jealousy; longing to
possess something awarded to or achieved by another; a feeling of resentment
that another has gained something that one more rightfully deserves. How many
of you are killing yourself laughing at these definitions? I found these
definitions quite hilarious not only as I was reading them, but also as I began
to type them. I thought to myself, “Why would I want what someone else
rightfully earned? Why would I want something that is achieved by and awarded
to someone else?” I wouldn’t and I don’t. Believe it or not, there are people
out there that spend their days and nights longing for what others have and it
does not matter what it takes to get, they will get it.
Love
does not envy-
How many of us grew up in the home where you better not come in the house and
tell your parents that Johnny and Jessica had the latest pair shoes and their
parents just bought a new car? Raising my hand high above everyone else’s
because the first words out of my parents mouths were, “You don’t know how Johnny
and Jessica’s parents are paying for what they have” Why did we feel it
necessary to tell our parents about Jessica and Johnny’s situation? Because at
that particular time, we wanted a new pair of shoes just like theirs or maybe
we were ashamed of that big green car that your parents so nicknamed Nelly that
would break down every other block. We were envious of their material
possessions.
Now
that we are older, we know that envy is not of God and envy does not fit in the
love equation because love does not envy and it does not buy a new car because
your neighbor bought a new car, it does not remodel its kitchen because the
best friend remodeled her bathroom, it does not put itself in debt trying to
keep up with the Jones’. By the way, who are the Jones’? We don’t know how Mr.
and Mrs. Jones are paying for what they have. What God has for you is for you
& no one can take it away. Meaning you have what God sees fit for you to
have at this particular time in your life. He will not give us more than He
thinks we are ready for. You may be at a point in your life where this is what
you’re meant to have. Not to say that this is all you’re meant to have in life.
Love
does not boast and it is not proud. To me, to be boastful goes hand in
hand with being proud. These are the people we tend to call show-offs and these
are the people we tend to not want to be around because they work our first and
last nerves. These people are similar to the women on these Real
Housewives shows. There’s always one woman on the show that the others
do not like because she’s boastful and proud a/k/a a show-off. Our parents
& grandparents spent countless ours telling us to be ourselves and not
pretend to be something or someone we are not. Why? Oh why did they tell us
this? Because they didn’t want us to grow up and try to be someone or something
that we are not, to start boasting and bragging about what we have, when we
really don’t have anything, to begin to show-off our earthly possessions as if
we can take it with us when we leave here. Boastful and proud, show-off’s,
fake, phony, or whatever you want to call it, is not of God and does not fulfill
the greatest command or is aligned with the first fruit of the spirit, Love.
Let’s
reevaluate areas in our lives and see if we walking in love or if we are
harboring envy, boastfulness, and pride. Are we one of those Real Housewives
that no one wants to be around?
To be envious, boastful and proud is not of
love and goes against God’s greatest command-to love and love is the first
fruit of the spirit.
