Envy - A Passion That Defiles the Heart

Envy - A Passion That Defiles the Heart

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According to the tenth commandment, "Thou shalt not covet
(to covet -to long for or desire something belonging to another)

thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, 

nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is

thy neighbour's" Exodus 20:17

"The sickness of envy is one of the soul's worst illnesses. It does

great damage to the envious person's soul, as well as causing

serious distress to others. Someone in the grip of envy does not

consider friends, relatives or benefactors. Unhappiness is the

distingushing characteristic of the envious person...Usually the

envious man does not want to admit his sickness or reveal the

wound in his soul, so he is continuously miserable."

Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos in 'The Science of Spiritual Medicine' p.125,

Birth of the Theotokos Monastery 2010.

"What is a passion? Passion is an unnatural movement of the soul,

says Maximus the Confessor, just as a physical disease is some-

thing unnatural to our body… 'Passion is an excessive feeling, or

appetite, going beyond what is reasonable. Passions are a

disturbance of our soul contrary to our nature, in disobedience

to reason. Passion is not natural and it ruins our nature instead

of fulfilling it- Clement of Alexandria”

Path to Sanity p.30, Dee Pennock, Light & Life Publishing Company,

Minneapolis, MN 2010

Envy is mainly sadness at our neighbour's happiness and joy at

his misfortune...Usually the envious person is anxious and

overcome by unbearable sorrow, not because something bad

has happened to him, but because something good has 

happened to his fellow human being. He takes no account of

his own blessings and does not praise God for the benefits

bestowed on him everyday. Instead, he is tormented by his

brother's happiness. He is distressed because his brother is glad

and possesses more than he does.Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos in

'The Science of Spiritual Medicine' p.125,Birth of the Theotokos Monastery

2010.

Envy is a serious wound as no other passion is so destructive

of men's souls. Ibid p.126 The envious man usually examines other

people's lives and tries to compare his own life with theirs.

When he realizes that his brother surpasses him, he lets the

terrible passion of envy show itself. Usually the first sign of

the passion is dejection, distress and misery. Sorrow and

despondency never leave the envious man.

The physical and spiritual merits of others become a source of

sorrow and gloom. Even their material possessions upset him.

Someone afflicted by envy is like a naked man wounded by

everyone. He is very deeply hurt, cut to the heart. 'All these

wounds and injuries strike to the depths of his heart' St Basil

the Great.

"The envious man usually has his eyes everywhere. He is always 

carefully watching for grounds to make an accusation. He

observes how the other person talks and behaves...When the

victim of his envy is praised, the envious man is ready to

contradict. Ibid p.126-127. ..The passion of envy may be

carefully hidden by sorrow and a tendency to criticize. It is

also sometimes concealed behind praise for others. Envy has

terrible consequences. It distorts a person's soul." Ibid p.127"Envy is a sign of a carnal life. St Gregory of Sinai stresses

the same point: 'Those who are completely given over to

pursuits of the flesh and full of self-love are always slaves to

sensual pleasure and to vanity. Envy too, is rooted in them'.
The envious man is spiritually blind. The eye of his soul, the

nous, is blinded and cannot discern good from bad. It cannot

even perceive the grace of God. St Thalassios says succintly,

'The Lord blinds the envious nous, because it is resentful of

its neighbour's blessings'.
The person overcome by the passion of envy ends up without

faith. St Nikitas Stithatos says, 'Lack of faith is evil, the worst

offspring of wicked avarice and envy.' Envious people waste

away from the passion of envy and 'state slanderously that

good is bad, calling it the fruit of deceit. They do not accept

things of the Spirit or believe in them, and because of their

lack of faith, they cannot see or know God' (St Gregory of

Sinai)." Ibid p.129

"Envious people, by the very fact that they are envious, show

that they do not have love. The envious man cannot and does

not want to love. The envious man also destroys what he has

. ...envy consumes the soul that bears it". Ibid p.129

It is possible to have spiritual envy. "St Nikitas Stithatos says

that envious people are consumed with jealousy against those

who have received the grace of the Spirit in the form of

wisdom and divine knowledge.

The passion of envy also injures those against whom it is

directed. It does great harm, especially if its victims do not

have the strength and spiritual courage to deal with the

situation." Ibid p.129

"the offsprings of envy are: conspiracy, malice, spite,

argumentation, slander, fraud, betrayal, murder" St Nikodimos

the Hagiorite in the Exomologetarion p.79, Translated by Fr George Dokos,

Uncut Mountain Press 2006

Obviously envy can lead to stealing and many other forms of

criminal behavior. Unfortunately, once the victim of the

envious person has been destroyed, the poison of this evil

viper of envy does not cease to hurt the envious, the inner

discontent continues and it can even lead to suicide.

And so, how may we be healed from the passion of envy?,

how may we help others in the grip of this evil?   First, we

must heed St Basil's warning; "envy is an extremely difficult

kind of enmity to handle. Acts of kindness irritate the envious

man even more. Dogs calm down when fed,..but envious men

become wilder when treated well. Good deeds make them

even more furious." The Science of Spiritual Medicine p.130 

Second,"St Maximos the Confessor analyses the case of Saul,

who persecuted David in spite of being treated kindly by him.

He says that anyone who, out of envy, hates and vilifies a man

because he outshines him in the struggle for virtue...is choked

by an evil spirit". Ibid p. 130. A person under the power of

envy is being tormented by a demon.

King David sings, "The earth is the Lord's and all its fullness,

the world and those who dwell therein" Psalm 24:1  The

riches of God are unlimited. " The noted sociologist George

Foster, developed a concept of 'limited good'. He explains the

belief in many cultures that there 'is only so much good to go

around, and if you don't have good then you are stuck with evil.

Your neighbour's increase of good then deprives you of good

and brings you evil." From 'Death by Envy' p. 6, by Fr George Aquaro,

iUniverse,Inc 2004.

"The careful reader will see that if everything belongs to the

Creator, then to believe that one deserves something is in fact

self-idolatry. The Decalogue shows the dynamic that idolatry

leads to envy, which leads to murder. Only in a slight

preference aside from God, is one idolatrous and capable of

sin. This slight preference for one's self instead of God reveals

that one deserves something more than God, is the seed of

envy. The deceit of Adam and Eve was their own belief that

they deserved to eat of the tree". Ibid p.35 

The Epistles link envy to pride in several instances, Gal 5:26

"Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying

one another; and James 4:1-4: 'Where do wars and fights come

from among you? Do they not come from your desires for

pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have.

You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war".

etc.

Prophet Job had the right perspective, "The Lord gave and

the Lord has taken away: Blessed be the name of the Lord"

Job 1:21 Therefore as we can see, our acknowledgement of

God's sovereignty and unlimited riches, and the pursuit of

humility as expressed by St Paul in his letter to Timothy,

can  help us in our healing from envy. "And having food and

clothing, with these we shall be content." 1 Tim. 6:8

"St Cyprian of Carthage in his treatise, 'On jealousy and Envy'

warned his reader against laughing off one's own envy, seeing

it as a constant source of danger to one's life."

Death by Envy p.76

"St Basil the Great in his Homily 11 'Çoncerning Envy'

recommended that the faithful not have friendships with

envious people, quoting Solomon from Ecclesiastes 4:4,

"Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man

is envied by his neighbour. This also is vanity and grasping

for the wind." His argument was that the envious only have

an effect on those whom they are intimate with."

"St Basil is a champion for the unlimited good of God and

the universal ownership of the Almighty rather than men."

Death by Envy p.77

Metropolitan Hierotheos advices,"We need to show particular

love towards those people whom we feel inwardly inclined

to envy. In particular we ought to pray about the passion, but

also pray for those whom we feel tempted to envy.

We should regard everything that our brother has as gifts of

God's grace. He is the Giver of all gifts. Spiritual guidance is

needed from a priest skilled in the Orthodox way of healing."

The Science of Spiritual Medicine p.132 In other words we need the

sacrament of repentance (Confession).

If we are the victims of envy we should, "show patience and

forbearance. Whoever bears this trial joyfully receives

consolation from God and acquires blessed humility. It is worth

noting that this sort of patience is usually found in God's more

valiant children, those who have spiritual fortitude and courage.

All those who patiently endure their brother's envious disposition

will gain a martyr's crown."

We should avoid living with or in the same place as those who

envy us, because great harm will result. Abba Poimen adviced

someone: Do not live in a place where you see that some are

jealous of you, for you will not make progress. In general when

we have the grace of God within us and are in a good spiritual

state, then the darts of the envious man cannot injure us and

we suffer no harm. However when our souls are not strong and

we are easily shaken, we must, with love and for the sake of

love, break off our friendship with the envious person and stop

associating with him....but that does not mean that we should

stop praying for him or caring about his life.

St Basil urges, "Brothers, let us escape this illness that

teaches hostility to God, the mother of murder, which

confounds nature, ignores friendship and is the most

irrational misfortune. Let us escape this unbearable vice.

It is a lesson learned from the serpent, an invention of the

demons, the seed sown by the enemy, a foretaste of

damnation, an obstacle to devotion, the road to hell and

the loss of the Kingdom." Ibid p.133-134

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