And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 4:4
As a devotional writer, there is a temptation to be novel. We want to offer our readers something fresh, a new perspective on a passage. Today, I am inclined to offer you a truth that you probably already know. Can it still be valuable to you? I know for myself, that I often need to hear things that I already know and believe cognitively but don’t actually live out obediently.
Today, I explore the question, why is it that we often overspend our money and overbook our time? Ecclesiastes gives us the answer: it’s envy. We often spend more than we have and fill our schedules because we feel like we must keep up with our neighbors across the street. We know it’s not rational to spend beyond our means, but we cannot help it. Perhaps we even tell ourselves that we won’t overspend again, but we struggle to live up to our own standards.
Perhaps you do meet your budgeting goals. You penny-pinch and are amassing savings as quickly as you possibly can. That too can be driven by a desire to be seen as a good money manager or from a desire to be self-sufficient. Both an overspender and a saver can have heart motives that are wrong. Envy of possessions and envy of security are both wrong motives to live by.
In both cases we must deal with the heart attitude rather than the behavior that could remedy our struggles. We can’t just resolve to be frugal; we must deal with our envy. We cannot just tell ourselves to trust; we must deal with our desire to fend for ourself.
Ask God to help you diagnose your heart this week. How is the root sin of envy shaping your relationship with money? How could he set you free from envy so that money can once again become a tool for his kingdom rather than a tool for self complacency or self protection.
Aaron Bjorklund
Note. To access scripture links that don’t appear in the email version, read the differently formatted web version in your browser.
