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Love Does Not Envy

Among the silly and insignificant things I post here, I also share the chapel moments I have with a room full of preschoolers. I'm honestly not sure why I go in with a plan, since I never know what's going to happen once I open my mouth. Herding cats might be more predictable. 

 I'm taking them through 1 Corinthians 13 this school year. Here was the latest...

“Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy.”

I've always marveled at the transition between being thankful for everything we have on Thanksgiving Day, to shopping for all the new stuff we want to be thankful for on Black Friday. So I asked the children the following questions.

  • How many of you have made a Christmas list for your mom and dad?
  • How many of you are looking forward to seeing Santa?
  • What if you don’t get everything on your list? Will you be mad at Santa? Or will you be thankful for what you do get?
There is something that often happens around Christmas that is a problem for everyone; boys, girls, and even Moms and Dads. It’s called envy. That means that we want what other people have.

“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” ~Proverbs 14:30

At this point I pulled out a regular egg, clean and white.

Let’s pretend this egg is what all of our hearts look like at first. Then we start to look at what other people have. We begin to want what they have. We become envious of what they have.

Then I pulled out an egg I had soaked in a glass of coke over night. 

 Soon our hearts will begin to look like this second egg.

You know how too much sugar can cause cavities in your teeth? When we envy “stuff,” it can rot the attitude of our hearts, just as the cola will rot the eggshell. I let this egg soak overnight in a can of soda. If I had left it longer, the soda would start to eat away at the eggshell.


  • How does envy damage your heart?


The Bible also says that love does not envy. Because when we love God, we believe He will give us whatever we need. Then we’ll be thankful for everything He gives us.

“Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy.”





Prayer
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