The Seven Deadly Sins and Healing Virtues | Part 4
“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”
(Proverbs 14:30)
“Don’t be a hater!” We use the word hater for someone who cannot bear to see another person succeed. “Bad minded” is another common expression. We know what that looks like. Someone gets a promotion and people react by saying, “they only got it because they know somebody.” A young person gets a scholarship, a neighbour improves their home, or another person’s ministry flourishes, and instead of rejoicing, we search for something negative to say.
Of course, not every bit of feedback or criticism comes from envy. Envy is an inability to acknowledge what is good about someone and reveals something disordered within our hearts.
What Is Envy?
The Catechism describes envy as “sadness at the sight of another’s goods” and an extreme desire to obtain them, even by dishonest means (CCC 2539). Should we feel sad at another’s gifts? Seeing someone’s gifts should inspire us to work harder or develop our own abilities. But with envy, their success somehow feels like our failure, and we do not wish them well or want them to progress.
Envy and jealousy are often used interchangeably. Jealousy is the fear of losing something good we have while envy resents a good possessed by someone else. For example, one might become jealous when someone flirts with their partner. Envy is when I desire my friend’s girlfriend or wife. Like other vices, envy may begin with a natural emotion. We hear another person’s good news and feel a sudden sting of comparison or disappointment. That first feeling is not sinful. Envy becomes a vice when we entertain the feeling, feed it and allow it to shape how we view or treat the other person.
Why Is Envy Deadly?
When envy is cultivated, it produces gossip, detraction, passive-aggressive behaviour, coldness, ridicule, dishonesty, lies and even attempts to sabotage another person. We may secretly enjoy hearing that someone we envy has failed or suffered. The Catechism warns that envy becomes a serious or moral sin when it leads us to wishing harm upon another (CCC 2539). For example, “I wish that he would just drop dead!”
The story of Cain and Abel reveals the dark side of envy (Genesis 4:3–8). God looked with favour upon Abel and his offering, but Cain became angry and envious. God warned him that sin was lying in wait at his door, but that he could master it. Instead of examining himself or trusting God’s goodness, Cain treated his brother as a threat. His resentment festered until he killed Abel. It is significant that the first murder in Scripture occurs when one brother can no longer bear the good received by the other.
Thankfully, most envy does not end in physical violence or murder, but it still damages relationships and kills friendship, cooperation, peace and another person’s reputation. Saint James warns: “where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind.” (James 3:16).
Social media makes all these vices and temptations worse. We compare our ordinary lives with carefully selected highlights and begin to see life as a competition in which another person’s gain is our loss. Envy can even appear within the Church when parishes, groups, ministries or individuals compete rather than thank God for the good being accomplished.
The Healing Virtue: Charity
The healing virtue is charity or love, which is expressed through goodwill, kindness, gratitude and admiration. The Catechism calls envy “a refusal of charity” and says that we should struggle against it by exercising goodwill (CCC 2540). Saint Paul teaches that love “is not jealous” (1 Corinthians 13:4). Love desires the good of another person and allows us to say, “Thank you, Lord, for what you are doing in this person’s life.” St Paul encourages us to “rejoice with those who rejoice” (Romans 12:15).
Gratitude heals envy by helping us recognize the gifts God has given us. Admiration should help us to turn from comparison into seeing what we can learn from another person’s good example. Another person’s light does not diminish ours. There is room in God’s world for different gifts, vocations and forms of service. How can we practice this virtue?
First, when we pray, let us acknowledge when we feel envious and why. Acknowledging our feelings is the first step to spiritual and emotional maturity.
Second, practice gratitude daily. Each morning or evening, make a list of things you are grateful for. When we count our blessings, we have no time to be jealous.
Third, congratulate and bless others. Don’t be a hater! Compliment others genuinely and celebrate their achievements. Better yet, pray for them and their success.
Fourth, refuse the language of envy. Do not spread gossip, make backhanded compliments or put someone down to make yourself feel better. If criticism is necessary, let it be truthful, fair and charitable.
Finally, bring envy to Confession and prayer. Ask Christ for the freedom to see other people not as competitors, but as brothers and sisters.
Let us ask for the grace to avoid being “haters,” and to become people who delight in every genuine good, wherever and in whomever it appears.
