Envy is a sin that we all struggle with at times. It involves coveting what someone else has or longing for something that God has not given us. Here is an overview of some key Bible verses about envy to help us understand what God’s Word says about this destructive attitude.
Exodus 20:17 – Part of the Ten Commandments
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
This verse makes it clear that envy is forbidden by God. He expressly commands us not to covet anything that belongs to our neighbor. This includes possessions, relationships, and status.
Proverbs 14:30 – Envy leads to spiritual decay
“A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.”
Unchecked envy leads to spiritual deterioration. It eats away at us on the inside, destroying contentment and peace.
Ecclesiastes 4:4 – Envy motivates achievement
“Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.”
Here we see that envy is a key driver of man’s economic striving and achievements. Although this drive can produce results, they are ultimately meaningless without God.
Galatians 5:26 – Envy is self-seeking
“Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
Envy is often born out of pride and conceit. It reflects selfish ambition more than a desire for God’s glory.
James 3:14-16 – Envy is earthly and unspiritual
“But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”
Here James strongly condemns envy and links it to the working of Satan. It is rooted in worldly thinking, not God’s truth.
1 Corinthians 13:4 – Love does not envy
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant.”
A key component of biblical love is that it “does not envy.” This reminds us that envy is fundamentally opposed to the way of Christ which is marked by self-sacrifice.
Galatians 6:4 – Avoid comparisons
“But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.”
Much envy flows from comparing ourselves to others. But Scripture calls us to avoid these unhelpful social comparisons.
Philippians 2:3 – Esteem others over self
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
Envy is driven by self-preoccupation. But we can combat it by intentionally esteeming others and their interests above our own.
Colossians 3:5 – Put envy to death
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
Paul instructs us to actively put envy and covetous attitudes to death, recognizing them as idolatrous sins that have no place in the believer’s life.
1 Timothy 6:3-10 – Envy leads to ruin
“If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing…But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.”
This passage warns that envy and coveting riches leads down a dark path to personal destruction. It is fueled by pride and ignorance of God’s truth.
Titus 3:3 – We were once envious
“For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.”
Paul acknowledges that sinful envy infected all of our lives before coming to Christ. But now we have been set free through His grace.
James 4:1-3 – Ask God, not envy
“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.”
Envy leads to conflict. James exhorts us to bring our desires to God in prayer rather than being driven by covetousness.
Psalm 37:1-2 – Trust and delight in the LORD
“Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.”
When we find ourselves envious, we are called to trust in God’s justice and timing. He will deal rightly with wickedness in His time.
Proverbs 24:1-2 – Don’t envy evil men
“Be not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them, for their hearts devise violence, and their lips talk of trouble.”
The temptation can be to envy the prosperity of those who gain by doing wrong. But their end will be destruction, so we must not covet their position.
Psalm 73:1-3 – Envying the arrogant
“Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”
Even spiritual leaders like Asaph struggle deeply at times with envying the proud and worldly. Honest confession before God is key in these moments.
Mark 7:20-23 – Envy emerges from within
And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Jesus teaches that envy flows from the sinful condition of our hearts, not our circumstances. Our thoughts and desires must be transformed by the renewing work of the Spirit.
Acts 7:9 – Envy leads to betrayal
“And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him.”
Jealousy over Joseph being favored by his father led his brothers to betray him into slavery. Sinful envy divides relationships.
Acts 13:45 – Envy opposes the Gospel
“But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.”
Envy was at the root of Jewish opposition to the message of salvation for the Gentiles. Envy contends against the proclamation of truth.
Romans 1:29 – Wickedness flows from envy
“They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips.”
Paul again confirms that envy is tightly linked with many other forms of evil and rebellion against God. We must turn from it through repentance and faith.
Romans 13:13 – Live honorably, not with envy
“Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.”
Followers of Christ are exhorted to live upright lives, free of envy and the shameful sins associated with it.
1 Corinthians 3:3 – Envy is worldly, not spiritual
“For you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?”
Harboring envy is evidence that church leaders were living by worldly standards, not the Spirit. It precludes spiritual maturity.
2 Corinthians 12:20 – Envy grieves the Spirit
“For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.”
Paul laments the possibility of ongoing envy among believers in Corinth. It deeply grieves the heart of God.
Galatians 5:19-21 – Envying leads to hell
“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Without repentance, the sin of envy can ultimately lead to eternal destruction, separating us from God forever.
This sampling of Bible verses makes it clear that envy is condemned in Scripture as an evil, destructive sin that must be combatted through faith in Christ. Thankfully, as believers we have been set free from slavery to envy and can now walk in the freedom of God’s love, if we humbly obey His Word. The path forward is found in intentionally focusing on gratitude, contentment and seeking satisfaction in the Lord above all else.