Green with envy

 The Envy Epidemic

What we dive into in this episode: 

• Surrounding ourselves with people who encourage one another
• Fearing success and watering yourself down for “friends”
• Digging up roots of insecurity
• The fine line between being green with envy and inspiration
• Friendships that sharpen one another
• Meditate on Galatians 6:4-10

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Jealousy and Envy

We are in an era of living and breathing social media, so what does that lead to? Comparisons and being green with envy. What is the envy epidemic? Think about an epidemic. It starts as something small, then it spreads. When envy comes into play you have to look at it like this; It starts with one person and it is about who you surround yourself with. A lot of this envy and jealousy starts in your circle of friends from the root of insecurity. The moments we compare ourselves to other people are out of our insecurities which lead to envy. 

One side of the envy epidemic that we usually fail to talk about is the perspective of being envied. This causes you to fear success because you don’t want to lose your “friends”. You fear success, reaching your full power, and striving to do your best because there will always be people who leave. This comes from fear and insecurity of people leaving, which can prohibit you from wanting to succeed to keep someone from leaving. You water yourself down and this neutralizes what uniqueness God has in you. We all have those friends in our lives, but the only way to get past that is to get a hold of who you are in Christ, not what the world says you are. You don’t have to like them, but you have to love them. You have to stop watering yourself down. So, what does the Bible say about being jealous?  

Comparison is the Thief of Joy for Women

There is a constant comparison between women, and there can be women you admire or inspire you– but you cannot try to be them or be better than them. If you focus on that admiration too deeply it can make you green with envy or jealousy. You can admire someone, but you have to understand that you are designed differently and that is still incredible. When you understand that God made you the way that you are, not something different, being something different isn’t needed at all. We are not meant to be like anyone else. It gives you the power to overcome. Yes, in comparison to our friends, we are going to lose some. We are not at war with flesh and blood, we have one enemy, but he is going to cause division. It is up to us to separate ourselves from it in the name of Jesus. 

Drawing inspiration vs being envious of other women

We need to ask ourselves, “How can I be inspired by her” or “How can I inspire someone else”. We are hating on people and burning green with envy when we should be drawing inspiration from them. We can look at how they have gotten to the point they have and how we can apply that to our lives. Proverbs 27:17 helps us to understand that instead of tearing one another down we should be finding those friendships that sharpen one another. 

We can choose to be envious or we choose to think about how they can sharpen us in our way and put that scripture into action. Think about how you can be good in your own way, be that friend in your friend group who speaks out about encouraging one another. Be the catalyst in those relationships to say that you need to sharpen each other. Break the cycle of comparison to other women and be inspired by other women. What we feed grows and if you take a stand, the envy epidemic can become an empowering outreach within your friendships.

How to overcome envy/jealousy:

• Understand who YOU are, while admiring others, but still understanding that who you are is fearfully and wonderfully made. 
• Draw inspiration from other women instead of being envious of them.
• Build friendships with women who will sharpen you, not those who will dull your successes and discourage you.

Bible Verses About Jealousy and Envy

• Proverbs 14:30- “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones”
• Proverbs 27:17- “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”
• 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, and demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 
• 1 Thessalonians 5:11- “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”