THEY GAVE OVER HALF A MILLION

That morning, I got a message from a dear teacher. They were in the middle of their building project. He mentioned that another church had given them over half a million naira to support their building project. The interesting thing is that the church that gave does not have a permanent building yet.

I was overjoyed. I was super excited. My teacher was the one who taught me that when a friend gets blessed, find a means to give to them also. For instance, if a friend gets a new car while you have none, give them a gift of some money for fuel.

Beloved, envy is dangerous. Someone said that envy is a devilish and fleshly response to God’s goodness in other people’s lives. When you are meant to lift a voice of thanksgiving for their achievement or new status, you suddenly realise that your heart is heavy.

Envy comes in as a small seed and if it is ignored, it can become a deadly virus. Envy can lead people to murder. Envy can lead people to destroy what others are painstakingly building.

The Psalmist warns us about the danger of envy:

Truly God is good to Israel, to those whose hearts are pure. But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone. For I envied…
Psalms 73:1‭-‬3 NLT

Envy hinders purity of heart. Envy will cause you to lose your footing and fall in the journey of life. The Psalmist warned us about it with his own experience.

It is so easy to get envious when it seems people who do not do as much as you do get much more than you get. It is easy to be envious when others make progress and you seem to be stuck.

The Psalmist did a huge heart check-up for himself and he reached the conclusion that:

Then I realized that my heart was bitter, and I was all torn up inside. I was so foolish and ignorant— I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.
Psalms 73:21‭-‬22 NLT

Bitterness had taken root in his heart. It had eaten him up on the inside. When your friends talk about millions and you have not seen half of it, what do you do?

When those who do not put in as much as you do seem to get better result, what do you do?

When you are faithful and you have stayed pure but yet marriage seem elusive and people you know who do not give a hoot about sexual discipline are getting married to “great guys and ladies”, what do you do?

If you are a Pastor, you will dedicate new cars and houses while you cannot even afford to buy a new shoe. Watch your heart. Rejoice genuinely with them.

One thing you must deal with is envy. The envious grows lean while feeding on the fatness of his or her neighbour.

Deal with envy!

FEEDBACK: How has the Devotionals been a blessing to you? Please share with me via WhatsApp on +2348077467754 or mycompassdevotional@gmail.com

And I would be glad to have you PARTNER with us as we make effort to reach more people and produce copies of COMPASS for distribution in April. Visit www.temiloluwaola.com/partneronline

God bless you.