Facebook Envy

Genesis 37:1-11

We live in a Facebook and Twitter world where we post our wins and loses in life on a daily, some times hourly and minutely basis.  I am guilty of this myself.  Don’t you find yourself sometimes questioning others posts, or even saying “man I wish I could go on that vacation, or I wish I had the money to buy that car”?  If we are not careful we can find ourselves filled with envy over the day-to-day lives of others.

In our scripture today – Joseph finds himself “posting” a status update to his siblings. His siblings were already not fond of him because of what they perceived as preferential treatment by their father, Israel.  Joseph’s status update might have read like this:  “Slept great last night, maybe best sleep ever!! Had an awesome dream that one day everyone and everything would bow down to me.”  So you can see that his siblings disliked him even more.

The lesson to be learned is that when we win in life, someone else loses.  For instance if you are out of work and really need a job and are interviewing for what you perceive is the perfect job for you, you can bet that others need and want the job too. If you get the job, those others do not get it. May we try to remember this and try not to be boastful and stir up jealousy and envy in others.  Joseph could have had a little dose of humble pie!!

Prayer:  Lord, please guide our words, written or spoken, to not be boastful. Please make them have a dose of humility and concern for others. Amen.

Written by Stephen Schmoutz