{"id":1171,"date":"2011-03-31T10:21:49","date_gmt":"2011-03-31T14:21:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fbclafayette.org\/?p=1171"},"modified":"2011-12-12T09:27:51","modified_gmt":"2011-12-12T14:27:51","slug":"living-life-together-avoiding-envy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/living-life-together-avoiding-envy\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Avoid Envy While &#8216;Living Life Together&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1211\" title=\"How-to-Avoid-Envy\" src=\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20170523133739\/How-to-Avoid-Envy-e1301511789813.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"540\" height=\"174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20170523133739\/How-to-Avoid-Envy-e1301511789813.jpg 540w, https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20170523133739\/How-to-Avoid-Envy-e1301511789813-300x97.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This year, our church\u2019s focus is on living life together.\u00a0 Over the past several weeks, we have heard <a href=\"http:\/\/www1.faithlafayette.org\/resources\/series\/friend_request\">sermons on hospitality, prayer, and suffering<\/a>.\u00a0 In reality, these three sermons are just a small portion of all that our church is doing to encourage us to live life together.\u00a0 The degree\u00a0to which we are following this biblical teaching is represented by\u00a0an\u00a0emphasis\u00a0on spending more time with more people, and enjoying the process of getting to know them.\u00a0\u00a0However, we must recognize\u00a0that there exists\u00a0potential for a negative side effect of this &#8211; envy.\u00a0 Many of us will readily confess, and can personally relate, to wanting things that we do not have.\u00a0 Therefore, we are careful to realize that living life together may sometimes fuel those thoughts of envy.<!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>Our Tendency to Envy<\/h2>\n<p>In some cases, a visit with another couple\/family\u00a0may\u00a0reveal that they have the exact kind of house that we would like, or maybe they drive the car that we would really like to drive.\u00a0 They could have a relationship with their children that we wish we had, or maybe we envy the relationship that they have with each other.\u00a0 Once these thoughts enter our mind, it does not take very long for them to\u00a0grab hold and build\u00a0into much deeper, and even sinister, thoughts.\u00a0 For example,\u00a0have you ever said to yourself:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;I would be happy if I had that car.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;I would be happy if my kitchen were stocked like hers.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;I would be happy if I were married to her husband (or his wife).&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>God was well aware of our tendency to envy; the tenth commandment reads, &#8220;You shall not covet your neighbor&#8217;s house. You shall not covet your neighbor&#8217;s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor\u201d (Exodus 20:17).\u00a0\u00a0We are placed by God\u00a0in the very\u00a0midst of <em>community; <\/em>He designs us to live in community.\u00a0 <em>But<\/em>, He also very\u00a0clearly explains that we are not supposed to envy the other members of our community.\u00a0 So, <strong>as\u00a0we live life together, how can we\u00a0minimize our\u00a0struggles with envy, and how do we deal with\u00a0it quickly\u00a0when it\u00a0occurs?<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Three Practical Suggestions for Avoiding Envy<\/h2>\n<p><strong>1. Remember that friendship is about service and ministry<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Friendship, at its core, is not about you getting your needs met.<\/p>\n<p>Consider the married couple, who long ago realized that\u00a0during their time of dating\u00a0and\u00a0engagement, it\u00a0was really easy to view the other person as the one who brought\u00a0happiness.\u00a0 We wanted to be with\u00a0our\u00a0future spouse\u00a0because it was fun, enjoyable, and it made us feel good.\u00a0\u00a0Now take a look years\u00a0into\u00a0the marriage; there comes a time, along the marital path,\u00a0for\u00a0a\u00a0sudden realization that the other person does not always make us happy\u00a0(for some, the realization may\u00a0have come early on).\u00a0 In fact, sometimes our spouse can irritate the fire out of us.\u00a0 This sudden realization of a misdirected happiness now becomes a critical turning point, a moment of clarity in marraige\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0we agreed to serve, and we agreed to sacrifice, so that the other person might be helped or encouraged.<\/p>\n<p>In many ways,\u00a0this example\u00a0through marriage\u00a0can be\u00a0viewed\u00a0like your friendships.\u00a0 You must realize that you are there to encourage your friends.\u00a0 Remember, you have an important place in the life of someone else. Scripture again and again teaches that each of us contributes something valuable to one another.\u00a0 Thus,<strong> put your energy and focus on how you can serve your friend, not on thinking that what your friends have would make you happy.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Consider that God has given you the stewardship he wanted you to have<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A second helpful reminder is that you have to steward well with\u00a0all the things that God has given you.\u00a0 In other words, you\u00a0would serve yourself\u00a0well to think that<strong> maybe one of the reasons that God has not given you more is that you might not be able to be very godly with it.<\/strong> Thus, God has withheld certain things that you might like because He understands that you would make idols out of them.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>3. Repent and focus on Jesus<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you have struggled thinking that you would be happy if only you had ________, then please let me encourage you to repent.\u00a0 Joy and satisfaction only come from a meaningful relationship with your Creator and Redeemer. Jesus took the wrath of God on your behalf so that you would have<em> all things in Jesus<strong>.<\/strong><\/em> The truth of the matter is this: the house, the car, the other person, or what they have <em>will not<\/em> make you happy.\u00a0 The pursuit of those things could ruin your life.\u00a0 Instead, repent of your envy and look to Jesus.<\/p>\n<p><strong>W<\/strong><strong>hen your relationship with Jesus is the place where you find joy and satisfaction, you will discover that you can serve your friends without coveting anything that they have.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This year, our church\u2019s focus is on living life together.\u00a0 Over the past several weeks, we have heard sermons on hospitality, prayer, and suffering.\u00a0 In reality, these three sermons are just a small portion of all that our church is doing to encourage us to live life together.\u00a0 The degree\u00a0to which we are following this&#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/living-life-together-avoiding-envy\/\">read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[133,4268,4251],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.14 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Avoid Envy While &#039;Living Life Together&#039; - Faith Church Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/living-life-together-avoiding-envy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Avoid Envy While &#039;Living Life Together&#039; - Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This year, our church\u2019s focus is on living life together.\u00a0 Over the past several weeks, we have heard sermons on hospitality, prayer, and suffering.\u00a0 In reality, these three sermons are just a small portion of all that our church is doing to encourage us to live life together.\u00a0 The degree\u00a0to which we are following this... read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/living-life-together-avoiding-envy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-03-31T14:21:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-12-12T14:27:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/files\/2011\/03\/How-to-Avoid-Envy-e1301511789813.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rob Green\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rob Green\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/living-life-together-avoiding-envy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/living-life-together-avoiding-envy\/\",\"name\":\"How to Avoid Envy While 'Living Life Together' - Faith Church Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-31T14:21:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-12T14:27:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/044621790bd51280ac2491914cbf2301\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/living-life-together-avoiding-envy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/living-life-together-avoiding-envy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/living-life-together-avoiding-envy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Avoid Envy While &#8216;Living Life Together&#8217;\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\",\"name\":\"Faith Church Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/044621790bd51280ac2491914cbf2301\",\"name\":\"Rob Green\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200408120942\/GreenRob.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200408120942\/GreenRob.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Rob Green\"},\"description\":\"Pastor Rob Green oversees Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries. 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