Learning 2 Love - Does Not Envy

"Love...does not envy." 1 Corinthians 13:4

We spent last week going over Love is Patient and Love is Kind. It has actually been REALLY GOOD! No more whining! Whenever a child shows a lack of patience or kindness, I simply ask them if they are being (patient/kind) and they simply respond no! VERY RARELY will I hear "but she ....", which used to be a common phrase in our house. (Reminds me of Adam and Eve - "It was the woman YOU gave me that gave me the apple.") It seems the BUT's have no place where LOVE is concerned.

I have not been able to find a word picture on the computer yet for ENVY. If anyone knows of one, please let me know. Right now, the past few days I have been catching them in the ACT of being envious and talking about it. It has been really good as envy seems to be more rampant in our house than a lack of patience!

It is amazing how easily the children are beginning to understand and APPLY what they are learning.

Let's look at the definition of ENVY.

EN'VY, v.t. [L. invideo, in and video, to see against, that is, to look with enmity.]

1. To feel uneasiness, mortification or discontent, at the sight of superior excellence, reputation or happiness enjoyed by another; to repine at another's prosperity; to fret or grieve one's self at the real or supposed superiority of another, and to hate him on that account.

Envy not thou the oppressor. Prov.3.

Whoever envies another, confesses his superiority.

2. To grudge; to withhold maliciously.

To envy at, used by authors formerly, is now obsolete.

Who would envy at the prosperity of the wicked?

It also says that ENVY is a noun (whereas the above definition is a verb).

EN'VY, n. Pain, uneasiness, mortification or discontent excited by the sight of another's superiority or success, accompanied with some degree of hatred or malignity, and often or usually with a desire or an effort to depreciate the person, and with pleasure in seeing him depressed. Envy springs from pride, ambition or love, mortified that another has obtained what one has a strong desire to possess.

I have talked about what envy means, but without the picture card, I was worried they would not understand. But catching them in the act of being envious and letting them know they are being envious has been helpful to them.

And I actually put my children in a position where they have a choice to be envious or not.

I read somewhere about a mother who made sure that her children did not always get the same thing at the same time. If she had a cookie, she didn't break it into even pieces so each child got a piece, she gave it to one child. In doing so, she raised some of the most UNselfish children. I must admit that I thought she was crazy. But her children never whined "that's not fair!" Because she would always remind them that they were right, life is not fair. And when it is not, you have a choice on how to behave. You can behave selfishly, or biblically. It was her job to train them to react biblically, so she allowed them to be put in positions where they would have to make a choice.

So this week, I remembered those words of that mother and allowed my children to be put in positions where they would have to make a choice. I am so glad that after three weeks of intensive training on LOVE, that they are responding faster when corrected. And often, I hear them correct themselves!!! And more and more frequently, I am seeing them chose the biblical behavior before even having to be reminded!

Now, being the prideful mother I am, I am so tempted to say "See what I have done!" But let me remind you (and myself) that I have these faults just as badly as the children, if not more so! It is all done by the glory and GRACE of the Lord in SPITE of me!! Lord, please continue to work in my children AND IN ME!