Do Not Envy

Proverbs 3:31-32 – “Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of His ways, for the devious person is an abomination to the Lord, but the upright are in his confidence.”

One of the key issues in being a follower of Jesus is to place our total dependence upon Him to sustain us, provide for us, and to make our paths straight or blessed. It is choosing to no longer trust in ourselves, but to fully trust in Him for the entirety of our provision, not just for ourselves, but for our entire household. The devious man and the violent man mentioned briefly in this verse, are the epitome of not honoring or trusting God. They trust fully in their own strength or smarts to be successful or to acquire more in life. They are an offense to God for two reasons. First, for trusting in themselves rather than God. Second, for trampling on others so that they can promote themselves and their own agenda.

An important result of truly trusting in Jesus for all of life is that it causes us to appreciate and care for other people more and more. We are gradually learning how much God cares for us each and every time He provides for us, and in so doing we are growing in our understanding of how much God cares for everyone. This understanding begins to change the way we think about other people and how we treat them. The Bible says to think of everyone above yourself.

In this verse we are being told not to envy the violent man and the devious man. It’s easy to see people in life who appear to have much–regardless of how they attained it–and to wish we were experiencing the same. It’s possible in life to obtain a lot if you’re willing to be violent and devious. Those words are a little over the top-how about instead of violent, it’s just being willing to hurt others for your own gain. And instead of devious, sly and manipulating in order to get one’s own way. That might hit home a little more. I believe all of these are intended from the verse, and we can often be tempted to envy what some people have who’ve obtained it in ways that don’t honor God.

The key thing is to not envy in the first place, but put your trust and hope in Christ. Obedience to Christ is the best road to be on and leads to the greatest blessing. If you will invest everything on this road, in the end you will be the one that others will be tempted to envy.