Have you ever found yourself wishing you had someone else's body, life, car, marriage, etc...? I know I do. My biggest struggle is wishing I looked like someone else. Someone with bigger boobs, flatter stomach, better hair, and on and on.
Yesterday I was reading my Bible in the book of Colossians and a verse really hit home for me. Colossians 3:5 says "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immoratlity, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." My wanting someone else's body is a sin! I had never realized that before. I knew what covetousness was but I never really sat and thought about how it plays out in my own life before.
Wanting what someone else has means we are not thankful or satisfied with what God has given us. And when we aren't content with what God has given us, we start to want that thing we think we should have more than we want God, which is idolatry.
John 10:10 tells us that "the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." Now does wishing you had someone else's body,car, marriage, etc... bring about the abundant life that Jesus is talking about? Um, no. It pretty much steals my joy, and if I let it go to far, it can also destroy me. Yikes!
We were not created to be miserable unhappy people. We were created to have abundant, joy filled lives, in him. That's the secret to avoiding the misery of covetousness. Finding our joy in Christ and his abundant promises. If we don't do that, we will continue to look to the world for our delights, and that usually isn't found in what we already have.
Recognize that coveting is sin. It will destroy you if you do not lay it at the foot of the cross and turn from it. If you find yourself thinking " I would be happier if I had ______" take it to Jesus. That thought is a lie. Yes, a lie. That's thing about looking outside of Christ for your fulfillment. Your mind will never be satisfied. It will always want more. You won't be happier with that thing you crave. You will just want something new.
So I encourage you today when you find yourself craving something you don't have to stop and give thanks to God for what you do have.
What about you? Who do you envy? What do you do about it?