Love letter #3: Love does not envy

It's easy to see why someone would love someone else who gives the 1st Corinthians 13 kind of love, keeping no record of wrongs and such. However, the way we are prone to be, without any help or influence, is usually very unlike the 1st Corinthians 13 love; kind, patient, never failing. Just look at child that has to be taught to wait, to share, to say 'I'm sorry'. 

I've found, when I'm being honest with myself and the Lord, that purity of love is not my default setting, as much as I strive for it to be my automatic response. In fact, one place that is the easiest area to get tripped up is thinking that other people have it together, and wanting what they have. The Bible calls it coveting, and it's a pretty serious transgression because #1, God asked us not to do it (Exodus 20:17), and #2, it keeps us from keeping both of the greatest commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind & 'Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). Even though these are basic tenets of the Christian faith, I have trouble getting them right more often than not, and it makes me awe that God still loves me patiently, kindly, keeping no record of wrongs. The following passage in Psalms hits that struggle right on the head: 


Psalms 73:1-5
 ¹Surely God is good to Israel, 
       to those who are pure in heart.

 ² But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
       I had nearly lost my foothold.

 ³ For I envied the arrogant
       when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

 ⁴ They have no struggles;
       their bodies are healthy and strong.

 ⁵ They are free from the burdens common to man;
       they are not plagued by human ills.

'They've got it all together!', The psalmist (writer) is crying out: 'Why do they get all the benies (benefits) when they aren't trying to do right, and I'm still struggling? And to top it off, my feeling this way is messing up my saintly position!'

Ultimately the envy is resolved by turning the writer's attention back to God. The psalmist puts the things he/she thought he/she desired in an eternal context by recounting all the ways God had and will love him/her.

Psalms 73:21-24

 ²¹ When my heart was grieved
       and my spirit embittered,

 ²² I was senseless and ignorant;
       I was a brute beast before you.

 ²³ Yet I am always with you;
       you hold me by my right hand.

 ²⁴ You guide me with your counsel,
       and afterward you will take me into glory.


And then we see a beautiful intimate moment between the writer and the Divine:

Psalms 73:24-28

 ²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but you?
       And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

 ²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail, 
       but God is the strength of my heart
       and my portion forever.

 ²⁷ Those who are far from you will perish;
       you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

 ²⁸ But as for me, it is good to be near God. 
       I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;
       I will tell of all your deeds.

Pray with me that we would concentrate on the manifold blessings of God; on His Goodness, and His mercy; on the escape and safety of His protection and strength. And next time you see something that looks good, smells good, or seems good, but is not for you; gain strength and remind yourself: Love does not envy.