A heart at peace gives life to the body,
but envy rots the bones.
—Proverbs 14:30
What osteoporosis does to the body, envy does to the spirit—it cripples its victim. “Wrath is cruel and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?” (Prv 27:4).
Unchecked, the end result of envy is fatal:
Why did Cain kill his brother? Envy.
Why did Joseph’s brothers plot to kill him? Envy.
Why did the religious bigwigs hand Jesus over to Pilate and demand his death? Envy.
Envy is deceptive—it pins the fault on the envied rather than the envious.
See it for what it is: “unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you have disorder and every evil practice” (Jas 3:15–16).
Envy is an unintended salute
to the superiority of the envied.