If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. 1 John 3:14
If you have followed along with these daily devotions for a while, you know that when my niece, Collins, was born, my three-year-old nephew, Owen, was a little bit envious of the attention she was getting. He decided he wanted to only drink from a bottle. Although it took a little bit of adjusting, I am happy to report that now he loves his little sister. He stopped requesting a bottle and continues to thrive in all of the important milestones he needs to meet. Earlier this year, when my family and I were on vacation at Disney World, my niece stayed behind with her grandparents. I asked Owen if he was glad she stayed behind, and his adorable response surprised me. He said, "I love Collins." This response so clearly demonstrated his change of heart. You see, love for his little sister had replaced any envy that he felt when she was born. And, my friends, love is the thing that dissolves envy. When you love someone, you celebrate their accomplishments and their joys, and it is hard to be envious when you are celebrating with someone you love. And when you let go of envy, you can continue growing and thriving in your own life.
1 John 3 teaches us that there is a better way than envy, and that way is love. In this chapter, John writes, "If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead" (verse 14). This verse is given shortly after a call to let go of envy. It is only natural that a call to love follows the call to let go of envy because love is the anecdote for envy. When we let go of envy and choose to love, love becomes our focus instead of the envy that we feel.
As we think about loving instead of being envious, it is helpful to look at what this kind of love looks like. According to 1 John 3, this love is sacrificial. It looks out for the needs of others. It is concerned for the other person's wellbeing over one's own. It also means having genuine compassion for others. When we have this kind of love for other people, envy fades away in the background of the love we have for them.
Are you feeling envious of someone today? Do you find yourself cynical instead of celebratory when you hear about someone's accomplishments? My friend, let's be people who let love drive us instead of envy. Let's celebrate when people are celebrating, and morn with people who are morning.
Is there a person in your life who you are envious of? Maybe there is someone who has the career advances that you were hoping to have. Maybe someone has the perfect family situation, and you are envious of them. Maybe your neighbor just got a pool in their backyard, and even though they invited you to join them any time, you still feel envy welling up when you look over into their yard. Whatever the case, spend time praying for the person you are feeling envious of and ask God to give you genuine love for that person so that you can celebrate with them rather than complain. Let go of envy and choose love instead.
Read 1 John 3:11-17 (NLT)
This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.
We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
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