Seven: Envy

The early Christian theologian, Augustine, called envy the sorrow over other men's good fortune and joy over other men's misfortune. Dante's Purgatorio consigned the envious sentenced to Hell to having their eyes sewn shut with iron threads. Since they couldn't stand to look on other men's joys in life, they couldn't look at other men's sufferings in Hell. It is envy of Mordecai that launches Haman on his mission to destroy the Jews in Esther's time. Envy is what divided the Corinthian church into various segments based on favorite teacher (Paul, Apollos, Christ) or spiritual gift (speaking in tongues, etc.).
Aristotle believed that envy was particularly intense among equals and the ambitious. In The Count of Monte Cristo, envy of Edmond Dantès' promotion and upcoming marriage to a beautiful fiancée drives Mondego and Danglars to falsely accuse him of treason. Envy is the seeing of oneself as unfairly disadvantaged while seeing peers as unfairly advantaged. I may wish I had Bill Gates' money, but I envy my friend's inheritance of $10,000. I may wish I ran Donald Trump-type companies, but I envy my coworker who received a promotion even though they have been at my company six months less than I have. Envy occurs when another receives what could reasonably have come to me had the other person not cheated in some way.
Envy causes one to only notice the blessings others have or magnify those blessings and fail to see one's own blessings or to minimize them. When one is spiritually healthy, others' accomplishments are reasons for hope and methods to imitate. But when one envies, others' accomplishments are reasons for resentment, sabotage, theft, and murder.
For instance, an A- student might envy the A+ student. I had a classmate in high school who failed to win the top grade in our math class. Upon learning that she came in second, she promptly burst into tears. I was 15th or 20th in a class of 22. I would have been tickled purple to be second. Envy is seen in a pretty girl who constantly nitpicks the faults of a beautiful girl. It is seen in the first string player who is jealous of the captain of his team and would rather work to make the team lose than let the captain receive praises for a win.
Envy causes us to belittle the good others are doing or call their motives into question so as to cause others to doubt them too. Envy is the mother of slander, gossip, innuendo, and half-truths. It causes us to exaggerate, over-dramatize, and make up facts when telling about our own deeds and accomplishments and minimize or delete facts when recounting the good deeds of others. It is the itemization of other's possessions and blessings and seeing whether we are "ahead". Envy is the spending of time and resources taking or obtaining more than what another has. Envy rejoices when another loses what they have that you don't.

The Elders