Gratitude for our gifts
Genesis 37:3-4
Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the
child of his old age; and he had made him a long tunic. When his brothers saw
that their father loved him best of all his sons, they hated him so much that
they would not even greet him.
Today,
we’re going to talk about two words, envy and jealousy. Raise your hand if you think those two things
are basically the same. Don’t worry,
lots of people think that, but they’re not.
Envy and jealousy are very different.
Jealousy is wanting something that someone else has and you don’t have
it, but it stops there. Envy goes
further: it wants what someone else has, and thinks, “If I can’t have it, then
neither should you!” Let’s say your
sister has a really pretty dress, and you wish you had that dress. That’s’ just jealousy. But let’s say you feel that if you can’t have
that dress, then neither should she. So,
one night you sneak into her room with a
pair of scissors and cut up her dress.
That’s envy! Envy is so bad, it
even makes you change colors. We say “a
person is green with envy.” No one looks
pretty when they are green.
Now let’s see if you can tell the
difference between jealousy and envy in the Bible. In Genesis, Jacob has 12 sons, and his
youngest one was Joseph. Do you know who
was Jacob’s favorite son? It was
Joseph. And do you remember the special
gift that Jacob made for Joseph? It was
a coat of many colors, but it was NOT a “Technicolor” coat! Now, how did Joseph’s brothers feel about
Joseph and his coat? Did they feel
jealousy or envy? Raise your hand if you
think they felt jealousy. Raise your
hand if you think they felt envy. Raise
your hand if you think they felt BOTH!
It was both. Most of the brothers
felt envy because if they couldn’t have the coat, then neither should Joseph,
and they wanted to kill him. They were
green with envy, and looked very ugly.
But not Reuben, he felt jealous but he didn’t want to hurt Joseph. (By the way, that’s why that really delicious
sandwich is named for Reuben, the “Reuben Sandwich.”) Reuben knew that you don’t look pretty when
you’re green.
Boys and
girls, do you know what is the antidote to the snake bite of envy and
jealousy? It is an attitude of
gratitude. Instead of worrying about
what others have, worry about what you have.
Thank God for the great gifts he has given to you. What are some of the blessings in your
life? We are blessed with good health:
we can run and jump and play baseball!
We have food: fried catfish, spaghetti and cheesecake! (No meat, today is Friday.) We have friends and family who love us. And most importantly, we have faith: we know
God loves us, and every Sunday we can go to church and tell God we love him!
God has
given each of us special gifts and talents that he has not given to
others. Each of us has our own “coat of
many colors,” so you don’t have to cut up your brother or sister’s coat! And besides, you don’t look very pretty when
you’re green.
Praised be
Jesus Christ!
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