I read in the past, and again recently, the following story:
A fisherman who caught crabs would keep them in a bucket without a lid. Someone noticed this and asked him, “Don’t you have to keep a lid on that bucket?”
He said, “No, they never get out.”
“Why? Because they can’t get out?”
“No,” he said. “When one crab tries to go over the side, the others reach up and pull him back down.”
When I read that I thought, “How much like humans that is.” We can’t hardly stand to watch someone, especially a rival, get ahead of us. We turn green with envy and jealousy and begin to think, “Hey! I deserve that. Not him. Not her. I put forth a lot of effort to get that.”
Envy is one of those things that we shoot at someone else and end up wounding ourselves.
Listen to these verses:
“The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Mt. 23:11-12
“There are six things the Lord hates-no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes…” Pr. 6:16-17a
“Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Pr. 11:2
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble…Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up in honor.” Js. 4:6,10
There are tons more where those came from! Simple truth: God wants us to put the needs of others above our own, to love one another, to and care for one another. Envy, and its sister, jealousy are listed as works of the flesh in Galatians 5 and really have no place in the life of the Christ-follower. Let’s stop it before it takes root.
{Note: All Scripture is from the New Living Translation}
