Break Free From Envy a Six-Day Reading Plan by Anna LightSample

Day 6 It’s Not Fair

Perhaps the biggest obstacle in our search for freedom is feeling we’re not in control of our future. We like to think we are and the world tells us we can be, but in reality there are just things that we cannot make happen, or prevent from happening. That feeling of injustice runs deep in our hearts. We feel the sting of envy and inside we cry “It’s just not fair.”

And we’re right. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that the kingdom of God is completely uninterested in equality. God is wholly against making things fair.

I first realized this when I read the parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20. The landowner hired workers and agreed to pay them a denarius for the day. Several times throughout the day the landowner went looking for more workers, each agreeing to a denarius for their work. When the the day was over and the workers came to collect their payment, those who were hired first expected to be paid more than those who only worked three hours.

When I read the story, I too felt that was only fair. What stuck me in the story was the response the landowner gave those who grumbled about the injustice. “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?”

God is not fair. He doesn’t give gifts, talents, or blessings equally. I don’t know why this is, but one thing I do know: God isn’t fair, but God is generous.

In His all-consuming love He emptied Himself, became human, and dwelt among us. He experienced all the temptation we experience but was without sin. Then He took the brutal punishment of torture and death in our place. He is definitely not fair. If He was, every single one of us would be condemned to hell.

He’s not fair and I’m so thankful He’s not.

He does, however, care very much about the condition of our hearts in regard to envy. He wants us to be free from the negative emotions that hold us back from His abundance.

As C.S. Lewis writes in his classic novel The Screwtape Letters “{God} wants to bring the man to a state of mind in which he could design the best cathedral in the world, and know it to be the best, and rejoice in the fact, without being any more (or less) or otherwise glad at having done it than he would be if it had been done by another. {God} wants him, in the end, to be so free from any bias in his own favour that he can rejoice in his own talents as frankly and gratefully as in his neighbour's talents--or in a sunrise, an elephant, or a waterfall.”

As reflections of God’s glory we can rejoice when we see that glory, be it in nature, or in the talents and blessings of others. If everything is for Him and everything is from Him, when we’re encountered with something that might make our flesh jump back in bitter envy, we can train our spirit to be thankful for the generosity of God—even when that generosity is going to someone else.

To truly overcome envy we must cultivate a heart of admiration and gratitude. One of the best ways to do this is to bless that which you envy. Speak out loud of the unique glory you see in someone that might otherwise make you feel envious. Believe me, they probably need to hear it. Speaking life severs the hold envy has on your heart and turns it into what it is really meant to be: gratitude for the generosity of God. Practice rejoicing with those who rejoice and praying for someone else’s success, even above your own.

Gratitude releases you from envy. When we realize just how unfair God truly is, we can bring our bedraggled hearts into His loving arms and with a restful exhale, whisper, “Thank you, Jesus.”

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