Evicting Envy From our Hearts
Robert Dawson
Psalm 37
Dwight L. Moody once told an old fable about an eagle who was extremely envious of another eagle that was bigger, could fly higher, faster, and more stately. One day, poisoned by envy, the eagle approached a hunter who had a bow and arrow shaft. He asked the hunter to bring down the eagle flying high above them.
The hunter said he would be glad to bring down the great bird if only he had some feathers for the shaft of his arrow. So, the eagle, determined to see his bigger, faster, and more regal competitor brought down, removed several of his feathers and gave them to the hunter who positioned them into the shaft, took aim, and let the arrow fly. Unfortunately, it fell short of the mark. The other eagle was simply too high.
Determined to succeed in his evil plan, the eagle continued to pull out feather after feather for the hunter. He pulled so many feathers that it compromised his own ability to fly at which time the hunter took advantage of the situation and short the near flightless bird.
Envy, like so many sins, hurts the one who holds it in his/her heart more than it does those against whom it is directed. It may not surface to the degree of malice it did for this eagle, but the damage it does to the heart, mind, and outlook of the one harboring it is undeniable.
Envy, which is the root of jealousy and resentment, is a desire to experience some advantage or benefit that someone else enjoys. There is resentment that things are going well for someone else but not you.
“Envy is resenting God’s goodness to others while ignoring God’s goodness to me” (Rick Warren).
While it is not one of the sins we talk about often, it is one that we often commit. Like a cockroach it finds even the smallest of cracks, scurries into our hearts and multiplies like crazy. It affects our hearts, our relationships with others, our relationship with God, it siphons our joy, distorts how we see the world, oth ...
Robert Dawson
Psalm 37
Dwight L. Moody once told an old fable about an eagle who was extremely envious of another eagle that was bigger, could fly higher, faster, and more stately. One day, poisoned by envy, the eagle approached a hunter who had a bow and arrow shaft. He asked the hunter to bring down the eagle flying high above them.
The hunter said he would be glad to bring down the great bird if only he had some feathers for the shaft of his arrow. So, the eagle, determined to see his bigger, faster, and more regal competitor brought down, removed several of his feathers and gave them to the hunter who positioned them into the shaft, took aim, and let the arrow fly. Unfortunately, it fell short of the mark. The other eagle was simply too high.
Determined to succeed in his evil plan, the eagle continued to pull out feather after feather for the hunter. He pulled so many feathers that it compromised his own ability to fly at which time the hunter took advantage of the situation and short the near flightless bird.
Envy, like so many sins, hurts the one who holds it in his/her heart more than it does those against whom it is directed. It may not surface to the degree of malice it did for this eagle, but the damage it does to the heart, mind, and outlook of the one harboring it is undeniable.
Envy, which is the root of jealousy and resentment, is a desire to experience some advantage or benefit that someone else enjoys. There is resentment that things are going well for someone else but not you.
“Envy is resenting God’s goodness to others while ignoring God’s goodness to me” (Rick Warren).
While it is not one of the sins we talk about often, it is one that we often commit. Like a cockroach it finds even the smallest of cracks, scurries into our hearts and multiplies like crazy. It affects our hearts, our relationships with others, our relationship with God, it siphons our joy, distorts how we see the world, oth ...
There are 19958 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
