Earlier this week I found out a friend had something really good happen for them. I can’t share what exactly it was because it’s not my story to share, but trust me, it was a seriously good thing.
And I am so incredibly happy for this friend. I love that this good thing happened to them, but when another friend found out they were extremely negative about it. Jealousy tinged this other friend’s words.
I get it. It’s easy to look at the good things happening in another person’s life and compare it to our own life, to let it bog us down.
We MUST fight the temptation to let that jealous and envious spirit set up in our own spirit. That’s exactly what the enemy wants. If we are so focused on the good things happening to others, and on how those good things aren’t happening to us, then we can never fulfill the purpose God has for us.
A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. (Proverbs 14:30)
I’m convinced the more we choose to celebrate the good things happening for others the easier it becomes to choose it over and over as that choice creates healthy pathways in our brain.
In the end all that being negative or jealous about another’s good fortune does is rob us of our joy. We get to choose joy. We get to choose to find joy in the good things happening to others. We get to choose to live a life full of joy.
Psalm 16:11 tells us “You make known to me the path of life, in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forever more.”
Doesn’t finding fullness of joy sound better that dried up bones?
