Wednesday, June 24, 2009

What is "Envy"?

When the King James Version was translated in 1611, the translators used the word "jealousy" to describe a person who has something, but is fearful that someone else will take it away. Surprisingly, words, like "jealous" and "jealousy" are usually used to describe God. He has us, but He is afraid that He will lose us to something else.

However, God's Word gives far more attention to "envy" than it does to jealousy. The King James translators used "envy" to refer to a person who does not have something, but feels that he should have it. The envious person often regards himself as the victim of the person who has something. And God's Word describes envy as a more dangerous trait than jealousy.

Psychologists use these same two definitions to describe jealousy and envy. Envy carries two victims at a time: the person who is envious, and the person who is being envied. We'll be going into a study of how to deal with envy from both directions.

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