If Envy Had a Shape, it Would be a Boomerang
If envy ever took on a form, surely it would be a boomerang, crafted by our own hands, thrown with our own jealousy, and yet always circling back to strike the heart that launched it. We hurl it at the success of another, but it returns and bruises the soul of the thrower.
Envy promises gain but delivers grief. It whispers, “Look at what they have… and look at what you don’t.” Yet Scripture gently redirects our gaze: “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” (Proverbs 14:30) A wise saying puts it this way: When we compare what we want with what we have, frustration grows. Instead, compare what we deserve with what we have, and we’ll be thankful. Isn’t that the upside-down math of grace? God owes us nothing, yet lavishes us with more than we dare ask.
“When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise” (2 Corinthians 10:12).
Trying to outrun the Joneses is a sprint toward exhaustion. Trying to outshine them is a marathon with no finish line. Nothing slows your steps like chasing those who were never meant to set your pace.
If envy were an illness, the whole world would be quarantined. Francis Bacon wrote, “Envy has no holidays. It has no rest.” Scripture nods in agreement:
“Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice” (James 3:16).
Jesus gives us the cure in a single sentence:
“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged” (Matthew 7:1).
Envy, after all, is judgment in disguise. It is the silent verdict that God has been better to someone else than He has been to you. Yet He invites us to trust His craftsmanship:
“We are God’s masterpiece” (Ephesians 2:10).
Envy consumes nothing but the heart that hosts it. St. Chrysostom said, “As a moth gnaws a garment, so envy consumes a man.” It is self-inflicted erosion—slow, quiet, devastating.
An Irish proverb reminds us, “You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.” True. And you must walk your own story, no matter how polished someone else’s looks online. Happiness becomes impossible when we believe others possess more of it than they actually do.
Envy throws mud at success, but only dirties the hands of the thrower. It promises a shortcut to satisfaction but leads straight toward disappointment. Many roads wind their way toward an unsuccessful life, but envy is surely the shortest. So what do we do? We trade comparison for contentment. We swap envy for gratitude. We lift our eyes from what others have and fix them on the God who gives every good thing in its season. And when we do, the boomerang drops harmlessly to the ground and is forgotten, while peace, that long-awaited guest, steps back into the home of the heart.