OVERCOMING ENVY, GREED & RIVALRY

1 John 4:20-21

If a man say, I love God, and hate his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? God himself has commanded that we must love not only him but our Christian brothers and sisters, too.

There’s a story about a man who met two travelers, one was greedy and the other was envious. When the three men came upon a crossroad, this man told the two travelers that he would grant both a gift before they parted ways. The gift was this: whoever would make a wish first would have his wish granted, while the other man would get twice as much of what was wished for. The greedy man knew what he wanted, but didn’t want to wish it because he didn’t want his traveling partner to have twice that of his own wish. The envious man was also unwilling to wish first because he knew he’d be envious of the greedy man having twice that of his own wish. Each waited for the other to wish until finally the greedy man took the envious man by the throat, saying he would choke him to death unless he made his wish. The envious man said, “Alright, I’ll make my wish. I wish to be made blind in one eye,” and immediately he lost sight in one eye – and his companion went blind in both eyes. While envy, greed and rivalry are powerful things, they can be overcome. The solution is found when we sincerely love God and our Christian brothers and sisters.