There are a number of grievous sins which will swiftly disqualify a minister from church leadership. Envy is not often considered one of them. But Paul lists jealousy right alongside drunkenness and sexual immorality as a mark of walking in darkness (Romans 13:13).
Envy is a vice that leaders can easily tolerate, even nurse, for years, thinking it safe and inconsequential. True, it may slip out occasionally as a whiff of gossip or in a particularly sharp critique during a sermon. But for the most part, envy remains undetected, a poison we imbibe slowly, sometimes with encouragement from others who join us in our hushed gossip or indignant outrage.
We pass around the flask of jealousy, each one taking little nips of bitterness as we discuss the state of the world, or even our own friends and colleagues. We may not literally turn green with envy, but bit by bit, our souls take on a bilious complexion.
Greed operates differently than envy. Greed is the desire to have something God hasn’t chosen to give you. It is the desire to gain. Envy is the desire to see others robbed of what they have. It is the desire for loss, though not your own.
Envying others requires justification. We find ourselves looking for some injustice, some reason things should not be as they are. As the author Angus Wilson notes, all the deadly sins are destructive, but most are at least self-gratifying. In contrast, “envy is impotent, numbed with fear, never ceasing in its appetite, and it knows no gratification, but endless self-torment. It has the ugliness of a trapped rat, which gnaws its own foot in an effort to escape.”
Jealousy almost always stems from some hurt or lack that we feel in our own lives. It might be the desire for respect in our field, financial security, better health, or a happy marriage.
When we see others attain the things which we deeply long for, instead of rejoicing at their good, we feel a pang of envy, a desire for things to even out. It’s even worse when such people are personal rivals or enemies because we cannot wait for them to get their comeuppance. We forget what James instructs, that for the Christian, mercy triumphs over judgment. Read more»
Chris Hutchinson | “The Evil of Envy” | January 22, 2026
RESOURCES
- Subscribe To The Heidelblog!
- Download the HeidelApp on Apple App Store or Google Play
- The Heidelblog Resource Page
- Heidelmedia Resources
- The Ecumenical Creeds
- The Reformed Confessions
- The Heidelberg Catechism
- The Heidelberg Catechism: A Historical, Theological, & Pastoral Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2025)
- Recovering the Reformed Confession (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2008)
- Why I Am A Christian
- What Must A Christian Believe?
- Heidelblog Contributors
- Support Heidelmedia: use the donate button or send a check to
Heidelberg Reformation Association
1637 E. Valley Parkway #391
Escondido CA 92027
USA
The HRA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Heidelblog
The Heidelblog has been in publication since 2007. It is devoted to recovering the Reformed confession and to helping others discover Reformed theology, piety, and practice.
More by Heidelblog ›