Are you green with envy ?

Good Morning, 

It has been AGES since I've written anything on this blog, but I've started a devotion on Spiritual Growth and I want to share it with you. 

Today's verse 

Philippians 2:3-4Good News Translation (GNT)

3 Don't do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves. 4 And look out for one another's interests, not just for your own.

As I read this verse I also thought about my word of the day from the day before : schadenfreude which is ": a feeling of enjoyment that comes from seeing or hearing about the troubles of other people ."  For some reason this got me to thinking about the Wicked Witch of the West.   Call me crazy but  the scripture that says  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.. 

So here is my point.  The Wicked Witch is green.....green with envy.  She is not just jealous, she has a bad attitude from the first time we are introduced to her in The Wizard of Oz. That kind of personality took a while to cultivate and did not happen just by chance. 

Yes her sister was killed by a falling house but as we find out, she had a bad attitude for quite some time. She was a known terror in her world.    Is the Wicked Witch a modern day image of what envy looks like? Of what the living embodiment of selfishness looks like?    She wasn't just jealous, she had moved on to full blown envy. She resented Dorothy & Toto.  What was that she called out?  "I'll get you my pretty and your little dog too!" .  She did not show any reason or kindness or tenderness or compassion.    Do we have the love of God in us?  Are we selfish and puffed up with pride?  Or are we servants in the image of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ?  Do we look out for our neighbor? Not just the person who lives next door but the person who sits next to us on the train? or in the next cubicle at work or in line at the grocery store or the next row of bleachers at the ball game?    Paul tells us in the scripture to be humble and look out for one another.  How do we do that?  Meditate on the Word of God, ask Him to show you His vision for you.  Don't let jealousy take over in your life and turn into envy.  Be the servant He has called you to be. 

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