In this video, Daniel Darnell shares how to fight against envy in ministry.
Daniel Darnell: I know for me one of my greatest struggles has always been being jealous and envious of others in ministry. Whether it be a worship leader’s voice or a musician’s gear, I so often desire something from someone else. I wish I had what they had. It could also even be just the success of another worship leader, the song they may have written, or the opportunities that they may have that I feel like somehow I deserve that opportunity. If you’re like me, you’ve probably had those struggles as well. Envy isn’t simply just wanting what others have. It’s a desire coupled with a resentful attitude towards those people and I think there’s a huge danger in that.
Psalm 14:30 talks about how envy actually makes our bones rot and as you know, envy is this internal struggle that eats us up inside all the while breeding bitterness towards one another in our teams. It’s unique among the sins in the fact that it actually gives us no satisfaction. There’s no temporary joy or enjoyment of envy. It always leaves you more and more miserable.
So, how do we fight envy? How do we do this practically? I think the first step is always remembering who we are in Christ. When we remember who Christ is, what He’s done for us, and the fact that we were saved from our sin, it makes it really hard to be envious of others. The second thing is resting in your gifts. We’ve all been given gifts and roles within the local church. 1 Corinthians 12 talks about this often, that we’re all unique and our gifts have a very unique place of where they are in the church. We don’t look at the foot and say, “I wish I was the foot,” or look at the eyes and say, “I wish I were the eyes.” God has given you a specific role and a specific gifting for where you are and that’s where He wants to use you. Be confident in that, pursue that, grow in those gifts and those roles and let’s celebrate that. The third step is repenting to one another and encouraging one another. When we repent to one another, we confess, “Brother or sister, I have envy towards you. I am jealous of your gifts. I am jealous or envious of the opportunity you had. I wish I had that opportunity, and it might breed bitterness within me.” Instead of just leaving it at that, I think the next step is actually encouraging them. When we see the gifts of others, when we see the success of others, let’s encourage them and celebrate that. Let’s not just let it breed this envy inside of us. Let’s celebrate others, what God has done in them, how He’s gifted them, and how He’s using them for His glory and for His kingdom. I think that will help us breed togetherness in our teams, it will help breed unity within us, and it will help us fight against envy.
