Love Does Not Envy

Quotes:

“Envy is the art of counting the other fellow’s blessings instead of your own."- Harold Coffin

“Envy, after all, comes from wanting something that isn’t yours. But grief comes from losing something you’ve already had.” ― Jodi Picoult

"Never underestimate the power of jealousy and the power of envy to destroy." - Oliver Stone

Napoleon envied Caesar, Caesar envied Alexander, and Alexander, I daresay, envied Hercules, who never existed.” Bertrand Russell (English Logician and Philosopher 1872-1970)

"Love looks through a telescope; envy, through a microscope." -. Josh Billings

“You can’t be envious and happy at the same time” Frank Tyger

I Corinthians 13:1-8a

ENVY is called a “green-eyed-monster”.

The phrase: Green-Eyed monster means: Jealousy.

It originated from the Green color associated with sickness.

Coined by Shakespeare:

The Merchant of Venice, 1596:

Portia:

“How all the other passions fleet to air,

As doubtful thoughts, and rash-embraced despair,

And shuddering fear, and green-eyed jealousy!”

Othello, 1604:

Iago:

O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;

It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock

The meat it feeds on”

Slide used of a famous portrait of a Woman Suffering from Obsessive Envy; Jean Louis Théodore Géricault (1791–1824).

Envy can be defined as a resentful emotion which "occurs when a person lacks another’s (perceived) superior quality, achievement or possession and wishes that the other lacked it."

Bible Greek uses primarily 3 different words for the one English word "love";

In the NT they are: Phileo(friendship), Agape(divine) & Agapao(self-sacrificing).

Note: Eros(erotic) is not used in the New Testament.

Our text used the word “Agape” for “Love”.

Agape is the noun (thing…meaning substance) form; Agapao is the verb (action) form.

These forms are used 258 times in the New Testament.

Whereas: Eros is used 0 times.

And Phileo is used 25 times.

In the Bible the English word “Envy” is translated from 2 Old Testament words meaning envy and jealous;

And 3 New Testament words meaning envious, desire, to covet, jalousie and emulations.

The Dani Tribe in Papua New Guinee (sun worshipers) have 27 different words for the color yellow.

*

For thus it is written: "And it came to pass after certain days, that Cain brought of the fruits of the earth a sacrifice to God; and Abel also brought of the firstlings of his sheep, and of the fat thereof.

And God had respect to Abel and to his offerings, but Cain and his sacrifices He did not regard. And Cain was deeply grieved, and his countenance fell. And God said to Cain, Why are you grieved, and why is your countenance fallen? If you offer rightly, but do not divide rightly, have you not sinned? Be at peace: your offering returns to yourself, and you shall again possess it. And Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go into the field. And it came to pass, while they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and killed him."

You see, brethren, how envy and jealousy led to the murder of a brother.

Through envy, also, our father Jacob fled from the face of Esau his brother.

Envy made Joseph to be persecuted and to come into bondage.

Acts 7:9 “And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,”

Envy compelled Moses to flee from the face of Pharaoh King of Egypt, when he heard these words from his fellow countryman, "Who made you a judge or a ruler over us? Will you kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?"

On account of envy, Aaron and Miriam had to make their

home outside of the camp.

Envy brought down Dathan and Abiram alive to Hades, through the

sedition which they excited against God’s servant Moses.

Psalm 106:17 “The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.”

Through envy, David underwent the hatred not only of foreigners, but was also persecuted by Saul King of Israel.

*This section extracted from I Clement to the Corinthians.

Consider what the Bible has to say about ENVY:

Job 5:2 “For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.”

Proverbs 3:31 “Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.”

Proverbs 14:30 “A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.”

Proverbs 23:17 “Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.”

Proverbs 27:4 “Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?”

Romans 1:28-32 “And so, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or approve of Him or consider Him worth the knowing, God gave them over to a base and condemned mind to do things not proper or decent but loathsome, 29 Until they were filled (permeated and saturated) with every kind of unrighteousness, iniquity, grasping and covetous greed, and malice. [They were] full of envy and jealousy, murder, strife, deceit and treachery, ill will and cruel ways. [They were] secret backbiters and gossipers, 30 Slanderers, hateful to and hating God, full of insolence, arrogance, [and] boasting; inventors of new forms of evil, disobedient and undutiful to parents. 31 [They were] without understanding, conscienceless and faithless, heartless and loveless [and] merciless. 32 Though they are fully aware of God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them themselves but approve and applaud others who practice them.” -Amplified