Who Wants to Admit to THAT Kind of Envy? - Encouragement for Today - July 29, 2019

Peace and perspective from God's timeless truths. [View this email in your browser]( Encouragement for Today --------------------------------------------------------------- July 29, 2019 Who Wants to Admit to THAT Kind of Envy? [CORRIE GERBATZ]( [ Listen to this devotion]( “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” [Exodus 20:17]( (NIV) It was only a matter of time. I could see her eyes surveying the situation and hear the wheels of calculation grinding in her head. Sure, she’d been relatively content singing “Happy Birthday” and partaking in the spoils of cake and ice cream. But the time had come for opening presents, and she knew those presents weren’t for her. The presents were for her younger sister, and one present in particular was the very thing she so desperately wanted for her own birthday. It was a baby doll, dressed in jammies, smelling of lavender, complete with all the essential accessories — pacifier, bottle and stuffed animal. What more could a 3-year-old girl ask for?! I had foreseen this dilemma coming the moment both girls fell in love with the same baby doll. My two girls have birthdays a month apart, but my younger daughter’s birthday comes four weeks before my older daughter’s. And one whole month of waiting for any 3-year-old might as well be an eternity. So I did my best to prepare my older daughter. I regularly reminded her that her sister’s birthday would come first. I encouraged her to celebrate her sister’s birthday. I even went so far as to assure her that she, too, would get the exact same baby doll on her birthday. And yet, when the time came for my youngest daughter to open her present, my oldest daughter immediately forgot EV-REE-THING I had said. She wanted that doll for herself, and the tears she shed were not of joy … they were of envy! Nasty, all-consuming, who-would-want to-admit-to-that-kind-of-ugly ENVY! My heart knew the struggle all too well. When others seemed to have all the newest “things” (bigger house, nicer car, perfect fall booties, etc.), I envied them, and my heart insisted I needed them more: “Don’t I deserve nice things too?” When others’ friendships seemed so effortless and full of joy, while my own relationships felt forced and stuck in a rut of exhaustion, I envied them, and my heart complained, “Why can’t my relationships look like theirs?” And when it seemed as though one friend was always overflowing with opportunity and blessings, having spiritual gifts that seemed much more exciting and more important than my own, I envied (hard) and whined (even louder), “But why heeerrrrrrrr?” In [Exodus 20:17]( God commands His people, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” [Continue reading...]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Read about Salem Web Network]( | [Subscription Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe]( --------------------------------------------------------------- © 2019 Salem Web Network. All rights reserved. 111 Virginia Street, Suite 500, Richmond, VA 23219. This email is never sent unsolicited. You are receiving this email because your email address, {EMAIL}, is signed up to receive newsletters, updates, and special offers from Encouragement for Today. [Link](