pride and envy

Today in the One Year Bible, we read from 1 Samuel 18:5-19:24. Saul is very happy with David and his victories over their enemies. That is, until the girls sing David's praises and talk about how he's better than Saul. Then the horrible double head of pride and envy rises up and tries to destroy everything: Saul, David, and their relationship.

This happens all too often in the kingdom of God, too. One pastor or musician or writer will be very happy with another minister of the same type... until someone compares them. And then they try to tear them down. They try to make themselves look better by making the other look worse. They sow seeds of discord among their friends. They might even spread rumors to destroy the other's reputation and even their life.

How can we combat this? Our two biggest weapons are love and humility. When we are humble and when we love the other guy, even when he's a competitor, we genuinely wish for their success. We pray for them to do well, even if it means that we don't look so good. We praise them even if it means taking praise away from ourselves.

Not easy to do. But when we remember the love of God, it makes it easier.

God, help us to be humble, and to love.