LIVING TO GOD’S DESIGN
“How to rid yourself of Envy”
Message Outline
“Long ago, even before he made the
world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in
his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own
family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.” Ephesians
1:4-5 (NLT)
“For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)
“YOU SHALL NOT COVET!” Exodus 20:17
HOW ENVY CAUSES ME TO MISS THE PURPOSE
OF MY LIFE
1. It denies
__________________________
“God, you knit me together in my mother's womb… Your workmanship is marvellous… You watched
me as I was formed in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every
day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a
single day had passed.” Psalm
139:13-16 (NLT)
“Who are you, a mere human being, to criticize
God? Should the thing that was created
say to the one who made it ‘Why have you made me like this?’”
Romans 9:20 (NLT)
2. It
divides
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the
one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and Money.” Matthew 6:24 (NIV)
“Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I
plan for him is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” Luke 9:62 (LB)
3. It
wastes my
“I’ve learned why people work so hard to succeed;
it is because they envy the things their neighbours have. But this is
foolishness, like chasing the wind… Here is someone who lives alone. He has no
child or brother, yet he is always working, never satisfied with
what he has. Yet he never asks, ‘For whom am I working so hard…?’ This
is useless, too—and a miserable way to live.” Eccles. 4:4+8 (GN)
4. It leads to
“For wherever
there is envy and rivalry there will also be confusion (unrest, disharmony)
and every kind of evil.” James 3:16
(Amp)
HOW TO ERADICATE
ENVY
Jesus’ Story of the Vineyard
Workers (Matt. 20)
1. Never compare
“Those hired
last came up and were each given a dollar. When those who were hired first saw
that, they assumed they would get far more.” Matt. 20:9-10a (MSG)
“Let everyone be sure to do his very best, for then he
will have the personal satisfaction of work done well, and won’t need
to compare himself with someone else.” Galatians
6:4 (LB)
2. Celebrate God’s
“The workers
who had been hired first thought they would be given more than the others. But
when they were given the same, they began complaining to the owner of
the vineyard... He said ‘Are you envious because I am generous to
them?’”
Matt. 20:10-11, 15b (CEV/NIV)
“Love does not
envy.” 1 Corinthians 13:4
3. Be grateful for who
“Isn't everything
you have and everything you are sheer gifts from God? So what's the
point of all this comparing and competing? You already have all you need!”
1 Corinthians 4:7b-8a (MSG)
“It is better
to be satisfied with what you have than to be always wanting something else.” Ecclesiastes 6:9 (GN)
4. I must trust God when ________________________
“‘These last workers put in
only one easy hour, and yet you have made them equal to us – we who
slaved all day under a scorching sun!’” Matthew 20:12 (MSG)
The Owner:
“‘Friends, I’m not being unfair!
I paid you exactly what we agreed on. Take your part and go! What
business is it of yours if I want to pay others the same that I paid you? Don't
I have the right to do what I want with my own money?’” Matthew 20:13-15a
“Let us run
with patience the particular race God has set before us.”
Hebrews 12:1 (LB)
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