SERIES: Danger: Toxic!

TITLE:   Green

TEXT:  Proverbs 14:30

“Envy is the art of counting the other fellows’ blessings instead of your own.”

 “Five great enemies to peace inhabit within us: avarice (greed), ambition, envy, anger, and pride. If those enemies were to be banished, we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace.”  Petrarch

I.    COLOR ME GREEN

Envy is the desire to equal another in achievement or excellence or possessions.

“Envy is when you resent God’s goodness in other people’s lives and ignore God’s goodness in your own life.”  Craig Groeschel

Jealousy refers to having something and living in fear of losing it.

Jealousy wants to posses what it already has; envy wants to have what another possesses.

“A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.” Pr.14:30 (NLT)   “A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones.” (NKJV)

Who is susceptible to jealousy?

1. Those steeped in (materialism).
2. Those who revel in (power).
3. Those who are motivated by (performance).
4. Those who are motivated by (professions).
5. Those who are motivated by (personal issues).

II.   COLOR ME FREE

How can we be free?

1. Stop (comparing). “Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.”  I Cor.10:12
2. Renounce jealousy as a (sin).
3. Reaffirm God’s (goodness) to us.
4. Watch where we (step).  “Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite.  This too is meaningless.”  Eccl.6:9 (NIV)

NEXT WEEK:   Pastor Ryan preaching