The Life Of David - The Insidious Evil Of Envy - 1 Samuel 18:1-16

Whereby, so sweetly love burns in us ... We could never bend to any envy....
- Dante Alighieri "The Divine Comedy"

 

How we react to a peer's success reveals our character.

 

THE INSIDIOUS EVIL OF ENVY 1 Samuel 18:1-16

 

"Envy is the painful and oftentimes resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by someone else."
- Jerry Bridges

 

Two Conditions That Tempt Us To Envy

 

1. We tend to envy those with whom we most closely identify.

 

2. We tend to envy in them the areas we value most.

 

How we react to a peer's success reveals our character.

 

Befriending the Lord's Servant 1 Samuel 18:1-5

 

1. It was a spiritual love.

 

2. It was a steadfast love.

 

3. It was a selfless love.

 

Our Lord has thus shown his love to us, that he stripped himself to clothe us, emptied himself to enrich us; nay, he did more than Jonathan: he clothed himself 
with our rags whereas Jonathan did not put on David's.
- Matthew Henry

 

I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness.
Isaiah 61:10

 

How we react to a peer's success reveals our character.

 

Begrudging the Lord's Servant 1 Samuel 18:6-16

 

Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless and seek the life of the upright.
Proverbs 29:10

 

Whereby, so sweetly love burns in us ... We could never bend to any envy....

 

1. Recognize the sovereignty of God.

 

2. Remember we're all on the same team.

 

3. Realize your own potential and opportunities.