Bible Verses About Jealousy and Envy.
Envy looks at what someone else has and resents them for it. Scripture traces it back to the first family, when Cain killed his brother, and warns that it rots a person from the inside.
The answer is not to want nothing. It is to want God most and trust what he gives. These verses name envy honestly and point to the contentment and love that push it out.
What envy does
Envy harms the one who carries it and the people around them.
Proverbs 14:30
A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.
James 3:14-16
But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
Genesis 4:6-7
The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.”
Exodus 20:17
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Love does not envy
Love celebrates others instead of competing with them.
1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
Romans 12:15
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Galatians 5:25-26
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Contentment in God
When God is your portion, you can stop comparing.
Psalm 73:2-3
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Asaph envied the wicked until he entered God's sanctuary and saw their end (verses 16-17).
Psalm 73:25-26
Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Hebrews 13:5
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Philippians 4:11-12
Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
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A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.
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Scripture quotations are from the ESV(R) Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version(R)), copyright (c) 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.