Get Wisdom Proverbs 24:1-2 Are You Envy of Evil People?

Today, we have two verses of the day. 

Proverbs 24:1-2. They say, “Be not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them; for their hearts devise violence, and their lips talk of trouble.” The idea is this: sometimes we find ourselves comparing ourselves to other people. I think that’s the start of envy, when we look at other people.

Quote

Andy Stanley once said, “There is no win in comparison.” You will never win by comparing yourself to other people. Sometimes we like to compare ourselves to people who we think are a little bit lesser than we are. Or we may compare ourselves to people who have what we want, or who we think are better off than we are. Either way, we are going to lose because we don’t know the whole story. We can’t pick and choose the good without the bad.

Instead, we should stay focused on ourselves, and on God. When we focus on others, or on what we don’t have, we become envious. I looked up the word envy on Google and it said, “a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities, or even their luck.” It’s important that we don’t fall into this trap.

Unfortunately, I think social media often leads us to fall into this trap. We may start by just looking, but we begin to browse longer and longer, and somehow everybody else’s life starts to seem better. But that’s not true. We tell false narratives on our social media accounts, because they aren’t telling the whole story.

Have you ever found yourself growing envious of someone you know isn’t doing the right thing, because you want what they have? I know I have. But our verses today tell us not to envy these evil people. Why? Because “their hearts devise violence, and their lips talk of trouble.” I know this can be tough. But what do you really want in life? Do you want the temporary satisfaction gained by doing the wrong thing? Or do you want lasting peace and satisfaction from walking with the LORD in the way of wisdom?

Proverbs & Psalms

These verses make me think of one of my favorite Psalms: Psalm 73. I love it because Asaph tells a story here. He starts off following God, but he gets distracted and loses his focus. Let’s read it:

Truly God is good to Israel,

to those who are pure in heart.

2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,

my steps had nearly slipped.

3 For I was envious of the arrogant

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

I love that the Bible doesn’t hide from us that these pe

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