- Joined
- Oct 26, 2007
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- 12,544
And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person's envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 4:4
People were trying to keep up with the Joneses and Jonahs even back in Bible times. Solomon took a long, hard look at the agrarian society of his own Middle Eastern kingdom and realized that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. Most Israelites weren’t wealthy and usually had just enough to make ends meet. Yet even they prided themselves in what few comforts, objects of beauty, and amenities they could afford.
People are always comparing themselves to those around them, even though the Bible says that they, “measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise” (2 Corinthians 10:12). This was such a persistent problem that right from the beginning god commanded, “You shall not covert…anything that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:17). When you covet their belongings, you’re likely to scheme to take those things.
In fact, even trying to accumulate material possessions through your own hard work can be misguided. The Bible says that any “pursuit of happiness” that expresses itself in the accumulation of things is bound to fail. Its “meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” Jesus emphasized that “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15). So learn to be content.
People were trying to keep up with the Joneses and Jonahs even back in Bible times. Solomon took a long, hard look at the agrarian society of his own Middle Eastern kingdom and realized that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. Most Israelites weren’t wealthy and usually had just enough to make ends meet. Yet even they prided themselves in what few comforts, objects of beauty, and amenities they could afford.
People are always comparing themselves to those around them, even though the Bible says that they, “measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise” (2 Corinthians 10:12). This was such a persistent problem that right from the beginning god commanded, “You shall not covert…anything that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:17). When you covet their belongings, you’re likely to scheme to take those things.
In fact, even trying to accumulate material possessions through your own hard work can be misguided. The Bible says that any “pursuit of happiness” that expresses itself in the accumulation of things is bound to fail. Its “meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” Jesus emphasized that “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15). So learn to be content.
