In his book The Unchained Soul, Calvin Miller describes his own struggle with envy and pride. When he was pastoring, he and another church member listed their houses for sale at about the same time. It took Miller’s house a year to sell, while the other house sold in 3 days. When people asked the other man why his house sold so quickly, he always replied, “I just put that house in the hands of God, and the Lord sold it in 3 days.”

Miller confessed that every time he heard the man say that, he said to God, “Hey, God, what have You got against me?” He admitted to reacting defensively to this man’s boast about his 3-day sale. Miller would remind God of the depth of his own spirituality, compared with the shallowness of the other man’s. After all, he had held countless Bible studies in his home and led many people to the Lord, while the other man had done neither.

Comparing ourselves to others always gets us in trouble. Comparing ourselves to Jesus always humbles us. John 21:21 recounts: “Peter, seeing [John], said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?” We each must give account for our own actions, not anyone else’s.

Tags: jealousy, temptation