2010 at 4:09 pm | by Nicole Whitacre
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood
Steph writes to say that this series on envy, “has awakened me to the way in which envy manifests itself in my life and the poor attitude I have toward others. My trouble now is that I am finding it very difficult to deal with these emotions and to know how to overcome them.”
The Bible tells us very simply to: “Put away all…envy” (1 Pet. 2:1). How do we do this?
1. Confess our envy to God and ask for his power and grace for change.
2. Stop comparing ourselves with others. Jesus’ question to Peter (“What is that to you?”) was intended to jolt him (and us) out of a preoccupation with others. It’s none of our business, so we must stop thinking about it! We must refuse to entertain thoughts that lead to envy.
3. Meditate on a verse that convicts you of envy and redirects your gaze to Christ. Connect one bit of Scripture to one bit of life.
4. Pray for God to bless the person you are tempted to envy. This strikes a blow against the envious desire to see blessing withheld from another.
5. Remember all the ways that God has blessed you. Start a list if you need to and refer to it when you are tempted to envy. You can’t give thanks to God and envy at the same time.
These are but a few ways to put away envy, but what if it won’t stay put?
More on that tomorrow…
2010 at 10:24 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood 52home
4:15 p.m.
52home
2010 at 5:55 pm | by Carolyn Mahaney
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood
We began our series with the story of Peter’s conversation with our Savior, after hearing that he was to be martyred:
“Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved [John] following them…When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” (John 21:20-22)
Jesus’ rebuke, while it seems harsh, was really the most loving answer he could give to Peter, for sinful comparison is a destructive practice. The Bible calls it envy.
So far we’ve considered three questions:
WHO do we envy? (We envy those close to us.)
WHY do we envy? (We don’t want others to have what we can’t have. We want to be the best. We doubt God’s goodness.)
WHAT are the consequences of envy? (It robs us of peace, fruitfulness, and relationships.)
Envy is serious. “Out of envy” Jesus was delivered up to die. But “out of mercy” he confronts our sinful comparison because he wants to help us overcome it.
We’ll address this final question: “HOW do we overcome envy?” in the following posts.
2010 at 9:47 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw
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Biblical Womanhood 52home
5:51 p.m. Sick
52home
2010 at 4:55 pm | by Kristin Chesemore
Filed under
Motherhood
Every Spring, ants invade our home and make tracks for the kitchen. I’m not particularly fond of these little guys, and I do all I can to eliminate them as quickly as possible.
But this year, we also have ants as pets.
For Christmas, Liam and Owen received ant farms and a voucher for free ants. They waited several months for the ants to arrive (checking the mailbox anxiously each day!). And just the other day, they finally came—Christmas in April!
The boys filled their little ant farms with sand and used tubes to connect one ant farm to the other. Then they dumped the little guys inside and watched them get to work.
Yes, I’m killing ants in one part of the house and feeding them in another. Does that make sense? Only in the life of a mom!
Not only can my boys enjoy watching and feeding the pet ants, but I can use them as an object lesson.
Like most kids (and grown-ups) my little guys often battle lazy desires. They can be tempted to complain and grumble about their school and chores. But ants, as you know, are super hard workers. They scurry around, carrying sand and building tunnels.
For my boys, this is a wonderful picture of what the Lord has called them to do. He has called them to work hard—to be busy and diligent. That’s why Scripture tells them: “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise”(Prov. 6:6).
Only, in our case we don’t need to “go” to the ants, they come to us—via a crack in the wall or the US Mail.
2010 at 9:15 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw
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Biblical Womanhood 52home
3:26 p.m.
52home
2010 at 1:55 pm | by Nicole Whitacre
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Fun Stuff Friday Funnies
Melody—who is doing a wonderful job teaching her children to trust God in the midst of suffering—sent us this funny story about one conversation that didn’t go quite as expected:
I was talking to my kids (age 8, 5 and 3) about how God is good even when things don’t go our way. (we’ve had a lot of health problems in our family)
I said, “Is God good even when Grandma is sick for a long time?”
“Yes!” was the resounding reply.
“Is God good even when Daddy had to have brain surgery?” Again I heard a chorus of “Yes!”
“Is God good even if you don’t get any more Build a Bears?”
This question was met with silence and surprise . . and finally a round of hesitant agreement.
Nothing like bringing it down to what’s important!
See you all Monday,
Nicole for the girltalkers
2010 at 8:58 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood 52home
3:58 p.m.
52home
2010 at 5:46 pm | by Nicole Whitacre
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood
One humble woman told us how envy affected her relationships:
I have really been struggling with envying the pregnant women in my life. My husband & I are not trying to get pregnant right now, but I still struggle very much with wanting a child and not wanting others to have children. (That Cornelius quote was very convicting and true). I found myself mistreating many pregnant friends of mine at my church by not smiling in the hallway or engaging in usual conversations. I was so ugly in my actions but more ugly in my thoughts. I realized I was really wronging them by being so closed off. My jealously and envy not only hurt my relationship with God, my husband, my friends but with the whole church body. I realized my sin really affects all others around me- in my case my church family. Praise be to God that where my sin was abounding, His grace abounded even stronger. He showed me my sin through other saints and I was able to repent and receive forgiveness from women I was intentionally ignoring.
Because God gives grace to the humble, I’m sure this woman has much grace coming her way! May we all be encouraged to follow her example and identify and repent from envy. Envy can hinder friendship, but humility—by the grace of God—can restore and strengthen relationships in the body of Christ.
2010 at 7:19 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood 52home
3:59 p.m.
52home
2010 at 6:44 pm | by Nicole Whitacre
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood
“For we ourselves were once…passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.” Tit. 3:3
I wonder if part of Jesus’ motive for rebuking Peter’s sinful comparison was to preserve Peter’s relationship with John.
Envy is a relationship destroyer. It squelches love and stifles kindness. We cannot cherish our friends and envy them at the same time.
“Love…does not envy” (1 Cor. 13:4). And as Jonathan Edwards put it, “Surely love to our neighbor does not dispose us to hate him for his prosperity or be unhappy at his good”
So, for the sake of our relationships, the Savior asks: “If it is my will that she ___________ what is that to you?”
Genuine love rejoices with those who rejoice (Rom 12: 15). It is happy when someone else gets honored, gets a promotion, gets married, gets pregnant, gets any good gift from the hand of God.
So let us put away all envy and love one another.
2010 at 10:07 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood 52home
6:19 p.m.
52home
2010 at 5:51 pm | by Carolyn Mahaney
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood
Jesus had a job for Peter to do. He had good works prepared for him to walk in (Eph 2:10), which included a martyr’s death. The Lord knew that if Peter envied John he would be distracted from what God had called him to do.
Envy not only robs us of peace; it hinders our fruitfulness.
If we try to peer onto other people’s paths, comparing and envying others, we’ll be sidetracked from the good works God wants us to walk in. We’ll fail to bring glory to our Savior.
We can’t envy and obey at the same time.
For example, if God has called to walk in good works as a single, but we are envying our friends who are married, we’ll be distracted from the ways God has called us to glorify Him in our singleness.
Or, if God has assigned to us to be married to a man who is not exercising leadership in the home and we are sinfully comparing ourselves with friends whose husbands effectively lead them, then we will be diverted from our task of bringing glory to God in our marriage.
Or if God has called us to use our gifts and abilities in a specific arena and yet we refuse to do so because our gifts are not as great or glamorous as another’s, we will fail to do God’s will.
Envy always eats up time and energy that should be spent on the good works God has prepared for us. When we envy others, we miss out on God’s grace to bear fruit today.
2010 at 10:37 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood 52home
6:40 p.m.
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2010 at 10:16 pm | by Nicole Whitacre
Filed under
Fun Stuff Girltalkers
This morning, our husbands boarded various planes headed for Louisville, KY and the Together for the Gospel conference. We miss them already!
Please pray for the conference—for safe travel for all 7000 registered, wisdom, grace, and clarity for the speakers, and that everyone who attends would be encouraged and strengthened in the gospel.
Tonight we’re hanging out and feeding the kids pizza and root beer floats. We’ll see you back here tomorrow!
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