While driving home for lunch the other day, with my windows down enjoying the nice day, I found myself next to a newer vehicle that caught my attention. Pretty soon my mind was wandering, daydreaming about how nice it would be to have a new vehicle without any repair needs and with all the new technology they come with now. I quickly found myself disliking the rusting 2007 Chevy Suburban that I drive that’s in need of new shocks and that doesn’t have a working air conditioner. It didn’t help that the temperature was in the 90’s. It was easy to become envious and I admit that did. It’s only about a 10-minute drive home yet by the time I got home thankfully my thoughts had turned from the shiny new vehicle to the following questions: Why did I allow my thoughts to go there? Why can’t I be content with what I have? Why won’t my flesh just die already!?
Before we look at possible answers to these questions, let’s take a look at what envy is and why it happens. We’ve all experienced it. Whether you’re a Christian or not, at some point you’ve noticed something that someone else has that you’d like to have too. Is that wrong? No. However, as your mind dwells on what it’s seen, simply noticing turns into more. Pretty soon your thoughts turn into desires which then grow and become envy. Envy is a sin. I didn’t want to sin while driving home from work that day. I had no intention of doing so. I don’t want to be envious of others nor do I want to covet their possessions. Sure, they might be nice things that I’d be happy to have, but I don’t want to have those desires. I want to be content with what I have. There must be a reason why thoughts wander as they do and if there’s a reason then there must be a way to stop them and prevent them from becoming envy.
Content is defined as a state of peaceful happiness. Therefore, to be content one’s mind needs to be thinking about things that bring peace and happiness. Romans 8:5-6 puts it this way: “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” Life and peace, doesn’t that sound nice? That’s what I want, not death. Yet, setting one’s mind on things of the Spirit is a not natural thing for a fleshly body and it does not come easy. Even if you’ve resolved to be content and to set your mind on the things of the spirit, you have a flesh nature that is going to try to get you to do what you do not want to do and stop you from doing those things that you do want to. In Romans 7:18-20 Paul tells us “…I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” If Paul struggled with fleshly desires how are we to eliminate them from our lives? Can we even? How do you crucify your flesh (figuratively speaking, of course) so that the Spirit can have control?
In Christ we are new creations (2 Corinthians 2:15-17) and that new creation, our spirit, longs to do what is good. As Paul puts it “In my inner being I delight in God’s law.” (Romans 7:22) Before Christ’s work in our lives, we had no desire for God or the things of God. None. Now, our spirit, by the prompting of the Holy Spirit living in us, yearns to live according to God’s law. Our spirit desires to do what is good. Envy and discontent are not good. They are mental conditions, sins brought to life by a mind governed by flesh. When this is understood the solution becomes obvious: We must train our minds to be governed by the Spirit. 1 Timothy 4:7 (NASB) tells us “discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness” or, as the NIV translation says, “train yourself to be godly.” For life and peace to be ours we must retrain our minds to think godly thoughts more often and to recognize and redirect ungodly thoughts as they happen. As with any training, the results that we seek will come with consistency over time.
It can be done. Don’t get discouraged that it takes time to get there and don’t beat yourself up over failures. Stay the course. Envy and discontent don’t have to be your story. Don’t compare what you have to what others have. Learn to appreciate what you have. Take care of the things you’ve been given and be thankful. Look around, no matter how little or how much you have, there’s a reason to be thankful. Think about these things and you will find peace and happiness. Finally, lean on Christ for strength. Paul sums this up in Philippians 4:12-13, saying: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” You too can do all things through Christ who gives you strength!
What are your thoughts on this?