Envy: Why Comparison Is Killing You (EP 203)

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Previously titled “How To Defeat Jealousy (EP 203)” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 4, 2026

The Bryce Crawford Podcast 12 min 1 speaker 3 chapters transcribed 2 months ago

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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

Bryce Crawford 0:00

What's going on, guys? Welcome back to another episode of the Bryce Crawford Podcast. I'm Bryce, and today we are talking about the most miserable, the most destructive sin that oftentimes gets confused with another. We are talking about envy today. If you have your Bibles, we're going to be all over the place. We're going to be talking about envy. Now, a lot of the times people put envy and jealousy kind of together because they're kind of similar a little bit, but we're going to define envy, what that looks like, and how to avoid it. Envy at the core is the sadness at the blessings of another. So if you are envious, you are sad at the blessings of another person. For example, to be envious would be like, I am sad because you are happy, or vice versa would be, I'm happy because you're sad.

Bryce Crawford 0:47

Thomas Aquinas wants to find envy as sorrow for another's good. And you see, the reason why this is the most destructive and the most miserable sin is because you can't see it. It's just like pride. It's actually kind of coincidence. Isn't it kind of crazy how the seven deadly sins, according to Proverbs 6, you got lust, pride, greed, envy, all of these things oftentimes tend to be sins that you don't see upon yourself. but it's easy to spot in other people. And I believe that's why, one of the reasons why this one is the most miserable, but another reason why envy is so miserable is because it actually hurts and harms you. What does Proverbs 14.30 say about envy? Proverbs 14.30 says that envy rots the bones.

How do envy and jealousy differ in meaning?

Bryce Crawford 1:35

Envy affects your soul. It affects your heart. It affects your friendships. It affects the people around you and ultimately affects you mentally and physically and emotionally. Envy has none of your best interests at heart, although it may seem so because you're like sad because someone has something that you don't. Oh, I'm sad because this person is blessed in this area. Now there's a difference between like admiration and envy, right? You can admire someone. You know, that's one of the reasons why we pray for things, right? Because there are things that we necessarily want. So is all ambition bad? Not necessarily. But what envy is saying is saying, I am sad because God has blessed you or I'm happy because

Bryce Crawford 2:15

because you're sad and you're affected and harmful. So what does this look like? Well, we know that envy rots the bones. It brings decay. It brings destruction. It brings disorder. It brings harm. It brings all of these different things. But when you read Mark 7, what does Jesus say about envy, amongst other things? He talks about envy. He talks about a lot of other different things in Mark chapter 7. This is what Jesus says in Mark chapter 7, verses 21 through 23. For from within, out of the heart of man, comes evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, covening, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and they defile a person.

Bryce Crawford 3:09

Envy is a heart issue. You know what envy reveals about you? It reveals that you're not content with God, so you're trying to find contentment in other things. And let me tell you something. Isn't that exactly what sin is? Sin is trying to find contentment in other things than in Jesus. And where are you left off when you try to find satisfaction, significance, and security everywhere else, but in Jesus you're left hopeless, despair, and rotting, just like Proverbs 14 says envy does. So envy is a hard issue. There's not a logical mathematical formula you can conjure up that's going to conquer envy in your life. When's the last time that you thought to yourself, man, am I being envious right now? Am I happy at someone else's demise?

Bryce Crawford 3:51

Am I sad at someone else's exaltation? What does the Bible say about honor? First, you must be humbled. Then you will be exalted. Yet we want the exaltation, the honor, the respect, and the blessings without being crushed. We want things that other people have. You know what? Instead of being envious of other people, the number one way, the number one way you can fight envy is gratitude.