Love Envies Not

by Micky Galloway

I Corinthians 13:4-8, “Love suffereth long, (and) is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth …” (ASV). The New American Standard version says, “Love is not jealous.”

I have asked my “young people’s class” to memorize these attributes of love. These are essential for any relationship to succeed. Chris Simmons in a previous article well defined the word translated “love” in this passage. “That word is agape and it is a love that seeks the welfare or best interest of the one we choose to direct our love towards. It’s expressed when we do what is needed by the one whom we are loving. It’s a love that must be taught and learned and isn’t something that we simply fall into our out of. It’s a love of the will and not the heart that is to be extended, not only to those who we have an affinity for, but even for our enemies (Luke 6:27-32). It’s a love that is more important than any other human quality towards God and our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39; I Corinthians 13:1-3) and will determine our eternal destiny (I John 4:7-21).” Indeed, this kind of love does not envy.

What is envy? The word zeeloo, can actually be used in a good sense as in II Corinthians 11:2 where Paul expressed his concern for the brethren, “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” However, that is not how it is used in our text. Here it means to “be heated or to boil (A.V. to be moved) with envy, hatred, anger” (Thayer). A similar word phthónos, also translated envy means “jealousy, pain felt and malignity conceived at the sight of excellence or happiness. Phthónos, unlike zeeloo, is incapable of good and always is used with an evil meaning” (The Complete Word Study Dictionary). Barclay defines it as “embittered resentment” (Flesh & Spirit, 48). W.E. Vine tells us “envy, is the feeling of displeasure produced by witnessing or hearing of the advantage or prosperity of others.”

Why is envy so bad? Envy kept Cain from being his brother’s keeper. Centuries later, the sin of murder caused by Cain’s envy is held up as an awful warning. John said, “For this is the message which ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another: not as Cain was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his works were evil, and his brother’s righteous” (I John 3:11-12). Joseph’s brothers “moved with envy” and sold Joseph into Egypt (Acts 7:9). Envy was in the heart of Saul when he heard the women sing one to another, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands … and Saul eyed David from that day and forward” (I Samuel 18:7-9). Envy aroused the bloody hand of hatred against Jesus. “For Pilate knew that for envy they had delivered (Jesus)” (Matthew 27:18). Envy is listed in Romans 1:29; Titus 3:3; I Timothy 6:4; I Peter 2:1 along with others with every stripe and color of ungodliness and immorality. Envy will most certainly destroy us! It is described as “rottenness of the bones” (Proverbs 14:30). Envy is sinful! We must grow up and learn to put it aside! “Putting away therefore all wickedness, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation” (I Peter 2:1-2). Paul lists “envyings” among the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19) and said that “they who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

How do we overcome envy? Obviously from the context of I Corinthians 13, we must learn how to love. Instead of envy, love learns to rejoice (verse 6, cf. Romans 12:15). Let us never disparage the blessings of others. Let us learn to trust and reverence God. Asaph said, “For I was envious at the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked …” He sought in pain to understand how the wicked were blessed and he was plagued all the day long “and chastened every morning.” It was only when he “went into the sanctuary of God and considered their latter end” that he learned, “Surely thou settest them in slippery places: Thou castest them down to destruction. How are they become a desolation in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors” (Psalms 73:18-19). He then could say, “But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever … But it is good for me to draw near unto God: I have made the Lord Jehovah my refuge, that I may tell of all thy works” (Psalms 73:26-28).

There were some in Corinth who saw the gifts of others as a threat to themselves and therefore became envious of one another. They had forgotten that ears don’t envy eyes and hands don’t envy feet of their ability. “Now ye are the body of Christ, and severally members thereof” (I Corinthians 12:27). Let us grow therefore, in our love for one another, in our trust and reverence toward God. Let us put away envy from our hearts lest it destroy us.