Sermon: Agape: Does Not Envy

Overcoming Satan's Spirit of Envy
#1726A

Given 09-Sep-23; 35 minutes

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When we resent someone having a more expensive home or car, we might be tempted to envy or covet our neighbor's property, grumbling wrongfully that they must have achieved it dishonestly. The apostle Paul warns us that it is foolish and dangerous to compare ourselves with any other human being, especially one whom we regard as a sibling in Christ. Envy, murder, and adultery are sins that originate in the mind and that continually struggle to morph into dangerous motor behaviors. God knows our thoughts, warning us that it is not okay to harbor thoughts of sin. Exodus 20:15 and Exodus 34:14 assure us that God is a jealous God and that one of the names of God is Jealous, rightfully showing that He will not share us with anyone or anything else. To have a jealous concern for our spouse is not sin, but to envy another's spouse is a sin. Satan and the world (including the advertisements and promotions) attempt to inflict envy and a "keeping up with the Jones's" mentality and promotes covetousness and envy. Any display of covetousness displays lack of faith or trust in God, violating the Great Law of loving God with all our might or our neighbor as ourselves. The scriptures are replete with examples of the consequences of envy or covetousness, especially about the consequences of our Father Jacob's dysfunctional family, still plaguing modern Israel today. The source of envy and covetousness is Satan the devil who coveted God's throne and proved himself as a murderer and liar from the very beginning. The only antidote to envy is agape love which is part of the wisdom from above.




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