BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

We All Have To Watch Out for It The same kind of envy that got hold of the religious people in Paul’s day still rears its ugly head in the Church today. It shows up sometimes in relationships between believers, and it brings division into churches. It can even get hold of ministers. The pastor of a small church, for example, can be tempted to envy the new church that opened up down the street—especially if that church attracted thousands of members seemingly overnight. He can find himself giving way to feelings of ill will and thoughts of discontent every time he drives by and sees it prospering. After a while, if he doesn’t realize what’s happening and repent, he’ll find reasons to criticize what the pastor there is doing. He’ll be telling everyone down at the coffee shop about all the flaws he sees in that pastor. That’s not love! When we get aggravated by how well someone else or another minister is doing, that’s the spirit of envy working in us, and it will keep us from prospering. It will interfere with our relationship with God and keep His power from moving in our own lives and churches. It will bring confusion into our ministries and open the door to every evil work of the devil. “Well,” you might say, “I’m not in the fivefold ministry. I’m just a member of a church.” That doesn’t mean you don’t have to watch out for envy. It finds ways to cause trouble in the Body of Christ through church members too. You might be in church one Sunday morning and start feeling annoyed over something trivial—like how another believer looks. You might feel a little jealous because you think they’re prettier or more handsome than you are. As the Sundays pass by, you might find yourself getting cranky when you see that person wearing a new outfit and getting a lot of compliments. What should you do if that happens? Identify the problem as envy and refuse to give it any place in your heart. Instead of bringing division into the church by avoiding that person, go out of your way to express love toward him or her. Smile and say, “You certainly do look lovely today!” Then go on your way asking God to bless that person and thanking Him for making him or her so pleasant to look at. It doesn’t matter how spiritually mature you might think you are, if you’re saying things that bring division into the Body of Christ, you’re being carnal! You’re operating in the flesh and not in the spirit. When you’re walking in the spirit, even if another believer gets into strife with you, do everything you can to maintain peace. Don’t get into strife with that person. Don’t cause more trouble in the church by going around saying the same ugly things about them they’re saying about you (Proverbs 24:29). No, keep treating that person kindly because you’re operating in love. I’m not saying, of course, that if you stay free of envy, you’ll be able to closely follow any preacher, regardless of what they teach. You need to be discerning. Although you can learn something from everyone who knows the Bible and loves the Lord, you need to stay away from unscriptural teachings that will damage your faith. That’s what I do. While I enjoy reading a variety of Christian authors and leaders, I avoid books written by people who don’t tell me the truth. I don’t listen to ministers who preach religious tradition and say things like God makes people sick or keeps them poor to teach them something. I can’t afford to listen to things like that! When sickness tries to come on me, I don’t want to have to wonder, Is this sickness from God? I want to be confident that God wants me well and that by Jesus’ stripes I was healed (1 Peter 2:24). At the same time, though, I don’t go around arguing with Christians who don’t agree with me about everything. I don’t go around putting up walls of division between me and them just because they don’t believe exactly like I do. I endeavor to walk in love toward everyone. And I’ve found I can fellowship with almost any believer, as long as I remember I don’t always have to be expressing my opinions to them. BVOV : 27

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