Envy...

"Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons; and gave him a varicolored tunic.  His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms."--Genesis 37:3-4.  I chose this passage because it introduces us to the life and story of Joseph.  In brief, Joseph would be the one that would wind up in Egypt in which the sequence of events afterwards would be the reason the entire nation of Israel would end up in Egypt.  This was all a result of the harm his brothers attempted to do Joseph, throwing him in a pit and then selling him into slavery.  The blessings Joseph would receive were because of a God's grace and God's ability to take an evil act and use it for good. The story of Joseph, which we will look at in more detail in the coming days takes us through the end of Genesis. But getting back to the passage, what we see here is envy on the part of Joseph's brothers.

Envy.  Of course, this is not the first time we see envy at this point in Genesis.  First, Cain and Abel, then Jacob and Esau, and now Joseph and his brothers. And once again, one brother or brothers in this case would want to do harm to if not kill the other.

Envy.  Envy is different from jealousy in that envy carries with it the intent to harm someone and take away from them what they are enjoying.

Envy.  Joseph clearly had something the other 11 brothers did not.  What added to their already existing tension is the fact that Joseph was having dreams that both his father and his brothers would serve him.

Envy.  I ask myself when looking at these accounts where one brother has more success than the other, why can't they rejoice in their success?  Although I will acknowledge that Jacob's success was not gained in the best of ways.

Envy. It is at this point that I realize an envious attitude is not something that we see just in the Bible but also in the Lord's church today.  

Envy.  Envy can destroy relationships.  Envy can destroy churches. Ultimately, if we don't take care of envy, it can destroy our soul.

Envy.  Galatians 5:21 calls envying a deed of the flesh which is contrary to the Spirit and that those who practice this among other things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Envy. In the story of Joseph, the envious brothers attempted to harm Joseph.  Furthermore, after selling him in to slavery, they took his tunic that Israel had given him and dipped it in animal blood and lied to Israel claiming Joseph was dead.  But ultimately, God would take this evil act and use it for good as we will see in the coming days.

Envy.  Put yourself in this account, who are you in this account? Are you Joseph or one of the envious brothers? Maybe you have been harmed because of someone else's envy.  If that is the case, I encourage to take that and turn it around and use it to God's glory.

Envy. On the other hand, if you are envious of someone because of their success, I encourage you to rejoice in that success with them as it will help build the relationship.  Furthermore, realize that if we harbor this envy in our hearts, it puts our soul in danger of losing out on eternity.  

My next few devo's will deal with Joseph and the remainder of Genesis. Thanks for reading everyone! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!