But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
(Galatians 5:22-23)
To demonstrate love, we have to remember the 15 attributes of love as described in 1 Corinthians 13~
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Love does not envy.
Love does not boast.
Love is not arrogant.
Love is not rude.
Love is not selfish.
Love is not provoked.
Love thinks no evil.
Love does rejoices in truth.
Love bears all things.
Love believes all things.
Love hopes all things.
Love endures all things.
Love never fails.
In the rest of this blog series on Fruit of the Spirit: Love, we'll go over a few of these attributes per post.
Love does not envy
A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. Proverbs 14:30
The key to overcoming envy is to have a heart at peace. Contention is a part of life. As you walk through this world, whether at home or at work, there will be people who contend with you and try to take away your peace. But if you renew the peace within your heart by remaining in constant communion with the Lord, then you can keep away from the envy that rots the bones.
Envy is described as jealousy, hatred, malice, resentment, and opposition.
Just like every temptation that we come across, we have to choose to envy. The temptation comes in as a whisper in the ear, or a piercing of the heart. If we are acutely aware of our natural inclination to give in to this temptation, we can immediately renew our focus. Look to God and ask for Help in overcoming the temptation to envy. Today I pray that your awareness will increase, and that you will look to Jesus for peace each time the temptation for envy comes into your heart.
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