Envy will rot your bones

This morning during my morning devotion I read Proverbs 14.  In verse 30 it states “A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.” This is the new living translation version of the bible.  In the New International version it states that “envy will rot your bones.”

I don’t know about you but the thought of my bones rotting is a process that gives me a sick feeling.  The Bible speaks the truth, it is the living word of God.  In Proverbs God speaks through Solomon and addresses many important life issues.  Dealing with jealousy and envy is a gigantic life issue for all people but especially alcoholics and addicts.

I can relate to my bones rotting because of envy or because of a heart that was not at peace.   A little over 20 years ago I was facing death yet one more time.  I had perforated a duodenal ulcer, which means my stomach blew up.  I was on vacation out in the middle of nowhere with no good hospitals and the clock was ticking.  I thought I was having a heart attack because the pain in my front quadrant was beyond excruciating.  After enduring 6 hours of this pain with no relief in site I was asking the Lord to take me.  I was dipping into shock and becoming very confused and hallucinating.  A miracle saved me as the husband, who was a general surgeon, of a Christian friend of my wife diagnosed my problem over the phone.  My wife called him out of pure desperation.  His wisdom and a local surgeon’s knife saved my life.

Back during that period in my life I was obsessed with having as much as I could get.  I couldn’t work enough to get “things.”  As I reflect back on that time in my life I also recall being jealous and envious of others that had what I wanted.  I also recall a childhood of having to have the best of everything and it drove me crazy if someone received more attention than I did.  Jealousy was the order of the day for me.  I would talk about people behind their backs as I would do anything to bring them down.  At the age of 28 my “bones” were rotting.

Once I got on the right path I began to understand the detrimental effects of a heart that is not balanced and at peace, of a heart that is constantly wanting what others have…coveting.  I eventually figured out that if I became more concerned with what I could control which was the planning of my life, my attitude and my work ethic, it no longer mattered what others had.  Today I am at peace most of the time because I not only control what I can control, but I ask God to help me control it.

In my years of working with alcoholics and addicts one of the chief culprits of relapse is unattended envy and resentments.   These feelings often kill us if we don’t overcome them.  Try living each day controlling what you can control and allow God to run the show.  You will be amazed at how quickly you quit worrying about what others have and how suddenly your life becomes peaceful.

P.E.A.C.E.