What is envy?  It's the feeling of discontent at the good fortune or excellence in another.  Frequently it's used in the Bible with the idea of malice or spite.  What is the difference between envy and jealousy?  Crabb's English Synonyms says "we are jealous of our own; we are envious of another man's possessions. Jealousy fears to lose what it has; envy is pained at seeing what another has."  How serious is envy?

A.  PROVERBS 14:30
    1.  Solomon declares how terrible it is.
    2.  It's like a cancer that eats out the soul's life.        POWERPOINT TYPE PRESENTATION

B.  GALATIANS 5: 22-23
    1.  It's origin is Satan.  It's a work of the flesh.
    2.  In the first chapter of Romans 1:29 it's classified with other terrible sins 
    3.  It's an attitude that is both mean and wicked.  It's so bad because it seeks to destroy or deny the good that it sees in others.  Some one once said "Men's minds will either feed upon their own good, or upon others' evil."  It makes an effort to turn other's good to evil in order to feed upon it.

C.  RECORDED DEEDS
    1. Genesis 4: 1-8
        a.  It was the root of the first crime in history
        b.  People can also take the talents and positins of others and murder their reputations.
    2. Matthew 27:18
        a.  It delivered Christ to be crucified.
    3. Genesis 37
        a.  It sold Joseph into slavery
    4.  John 7:1-7
        a.  Was it in His brothers hearts?

D.  1 CORINTHIANS 13:4
    1. "Love envieth not"
        a.  The envious person is self-centered and self-seeking
    2.  Love is unselfish.  When there is love there is no envy.  What parent in theri right mind would envy the success of their child?  
    3.  It's hard to imagine but there's even envy among preachers, elders, deacons, trachers and other members of the church.  When that happens there is a lack of love.

E.  1 PETER 2: 1-2
     1.  We are to put it away.
          a.  It has absolutely no place in the life of a Christian.  Here is what some one said about this attitude: "when a man of mediocre ambition and inferior thought spends his life in envying another man for his eminent success, his notable influence and his high ideals, it will dwarf, wither, and shrivel the soul of the envius and wretched.  To love is to rejoice in another's good and  to seek his welfare; this is Godlike.  To envy is to cherish the murderous hatred of Cain who slew his brother; this is satanic."

F.  HOW IS IT PUT AWAY?
    1.  Titus 3: 3-7
         a.  The love that was poured out abundantly on us through His Son
    2.  James 3: 13-18
         a.  We need to look to the wisdom from above

MAY IT NEVER BE NAMED AMONG US!