How come … why … it’s not fair. These are some words and phrases that can start thoughts that lead to frustration because somebody has or does something that you think you deserve more than them. Envy speaks of what could’ve, should’ve, can’t, and won’t based not on the actions or talents of the speaker but on the actions, work, talent, or gains of someone else.

It’s understandable that we can want what somebody else has; it’s a barometer sometimes to measure what we may want. A person who is struggling to make ends meet by working and working but getting nowhere for whatever reason may look at social media antics that make some overnight millionaires and wonder why their hard work barely helps them survive. Someone who does not really have the talent or the drive to sing, play ball, or perform surgery may look at others in those occupations and think that they should have a chance to do the same. A child who does not have the same clothes, shoes, lunches as someone else may begin to resent not only that other child but also their own family because they aren’t providing the same way.

How can we not be envious sometimes of someone else doing what we would like to do or having what we would like to have? And why isn’t your parent, teacher, friend helping you get whatever or believing in you that you can do whatever?

This sin not only makes us covetous but it also makes us blame. The thing to understand is that those people have nothing to do with your hopes and dreams and desires. They have either put in the work or someone who cares about them has. And remember you don’t know how those things were acquired or that just because they can sing, dance, play ball or do surgery may be what they have or do, but only they know if those things make them happy.