Numbers 16:3
“They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”
They were the sons of Korah. They thought Moses had too much power. They sought to bring him down, while elevating the people. They were able to pursuade hundreds to join them. They were levites, so they were representatives before God. However, they wanted more power. They were envious.
1 Corinthians 13:4 says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” Love doesn’t envy. This is something we need to submit to the lordship of Christ. We will always find some aspect of another that we want. We aren’t to focus on that. To do so would be to feed envy. This not only wants our status to be exalted, but to diminish that of the other. That’s the part where it’s not loving. Competition can be healthy, but not if envy is in the mix.
James 3:16 “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.” Disorder is one of the fruits of envy. The envious one makes all sorts of accusations. People get defensive and all sorts of bad emotions come out. Untruth is a tool in this. The sons of Korah twisted the truth to make it more appealing to the masses, “for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” They got some followers with that line. They thought, “that’s right. I’m better than that. I can go to God on my own.”
I think of those that stir up envy in the public debate. They may criticize the rich. There are plenty that want more money that will follow. They also criticize the police. They think they have too much power. There are plenty that hate cops and will jump on that bandwagon. Washington is full of lobbyists who are quick to stir up envy in the masses to get a following. We all want more. We have to guard against that. There are legitimate issues to protest. We have to be careful that envy isn’t part of our motivation.
How to guard against envy. Collosians 3:15 says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” Peace should rule in our hearts. Envy disturbs that with it’s pursuits. As we see something we want, if it’s not of God, His peace will diminish. That’s when we need to submit to His lordship. We should pause what we are doing. Give it to God and pray, “Lord, if You want that for me, please provide it in Your time.”
Lord, help us to stay in Your ways. Help us to be content with what we have and what You provide.