It’s a sin if you make a person jealous. Spiritual Sides of Christianity: Envy

Is it possible to overcome the sin of envy, is envy white, what is jealousy and how to rejoice at a loss, says Archpriest Igor Gagarin, rector of the Church of St. John the Baptist in the village of Ivanovskoye.

– Father Igor, what is envy, where does it come from and what are its consequences?
– All people are conventionally divided into those who want him to be better, and those who want him to be better. A person who strives to feel better is on the wrong path, because only the path on which we try to become better ourselves can be endless both in this life and in the future.
Seeing that your friend, neighbor, or acquaintance has something better than you yourself is a sufficiently serious reason for damaged human nature to begin to have unkind feelings towards this person.

There are sins against God, against neighbors and against oneself. Envy at the initial stage is a sin against oneself, this feeling destroys myself. But if this feeling is allowed to take hold, if it grows, it will develop into a sin against one’s neighbor.
At first glance, envy doesn’t bother people much in life. We know that it is forbidden to kill, rob, or insult, but to envy is, well, not good, not right, that’s all. How monstrous and disgusting envy is is not always realized. But the most terrible crimes in the history of the world were based on envy.
Let's start with how evil entered this world - with the fall of the Lucifer. It is clear that this is a classic example of envy: envy of the Creator, the desire to be equal, even superior to Him. Next is the original sin: the initiative belonged to the serpent, the enemy of the human race, who, out of envy of man, decides to destroy him. Having lost closeness to God and seeing that there is a being that is created in His image and has the opportunity to unite with Him and be deified, the serpent experiences envy.
Then the very first crime that was committed between people: Cain kills Abel - the reason is again envy. And so on. If we start reading the Holy Scriptures, we will find many more examples of how envy pushes people to the most monstrous crimes: the brothers sell Joseph into slavery, for example, or, finally, the crime of all crimes - the crucifixion of Christ. Envy was not the only reason that prompted the Pharisees, scribes, and high priests to kill Christ, but it was one of the reasons.
This is clearly stated in the Gospel of Matthew: “So when they were assembled, Pilate said to them: whom do you want me to release to you: Barabbas or Jesus, who is called Christ? For he knew that they betrayed Him out of envy.” Therefore, when you discover signs of envy in yourself, you need to be very clearly aware that you are taking a path that leads to a terrible abyss.
– Many sins are committed by us out of a desire for pleasure, but what is pleasant about envy; it seems that this sin brings only torment?
– Indeed, there is no pleasure in envy. The tenth commandment is this: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s” - the only commandment that concerns the inner experiences of a person. If in the New Testament the Lord speaks a lot about what is in a person’s heart, then in the Old Testament the commandments almost do not touch the heart of a person, the area of his desires, but only the last one: “thou shalt not covet.”
And here we need to figure out what envy is. There are two extremes: when a person does not notice envy at all and does not recognize it, and when a person torments himself for feelings that can hardly be called envy.
As a priest, I often have to hear in confession, for example, from a sick person: “I am a sinner, I envy, I am sad that everyone is healthy, but I am not.” But this is natural: if I am sick, and there are healthy people nearby, then of course I am sad that I don’t have this. This is the threshold of envy: when a person experiences sadness that he does not have what another has - health, a good job, a husband.
And here we need to very clearly build a barrier and not allow the sadness that things are worse for me to develop into an unkind feeling, and then into unkind actions towards someone else. Here is the following sequence: first, sadness that I am not doing as well as someone else; then an unkind feeling towards this person; and then this unkind feeling leads to unkind actions: from condemnation, denigration of another to terrible actions against him.
Having caught myself in the fact that I am bitter, I need to put up a barrier, and, on the contrary, set myself up to be happy for the other.
I really like the example from the story about the ancient Spartans. It is known that the best warriors, the most honorable, the king’s guard, were three hundred Spartans. And there was one Spartan who participated in the competition, but was not among the three hundred. And so he returned after the competition with joy on his face, and everyone was surprised: “Why are you happy, you lost?” He answered: “I am very glad that in Sparta there were three hundred people who were better than me.” And this is great, he knew his worth, but he was glad that three hundred was even more worthy, better than him.
The nobility of a person lies precisely in seeing that someone has something better than me, being happy for him or at least looking for this joy, asking God for it, understanding that this is truly noble, beautiful feeling.

– Is it possible to overcome envy?
– Of course, it’s possible, like any other vice. The pattern here is the same for all vices: the first thing required is honesty with oneself. Repentance is already half the battle, when a person, having discovered envy in himself, recognizes it precisely as envy, and not some kind of just feeling, and honestly admits it to himself and God, and repents.
Then, there is a very important point, which in the language of popular proverbs can be expressed as follows: “you can’t order your heart.” We all know very well that as soon as you begin to order something to your heart, it immediately begins to show disobedience. If you say to yourself: don’t think about something, you will certainly think, don’t wish for something, you will certainly wish it.
Therefore, we must immediately clearly understand: a person is not able to change his heart, his feelings, this is entirely in the hands of God, but it is in human power to give a correct assessment of what is happening in his heart, that is, to agree with what is happening or not to agree.
If we justify ourselves in an unkind feeling of envy, we believe that this is a legitimate feeling, then this is a problem, and the person has taken a path that can lead to a crime: because of this, they break windows, pierce car wheels, go to fortune telling, write anonymous letters, spread gossip.
There are many ways to give way to your feelings if a person is sure that this feeling is correct. But if I realize that I do not agree with this feeling, it is no longer my fault that it appears to me. At one time, I was very helped by an idea that I read in the diary of Father John of Kronstadt. He says that if we feel in our soul some feeling of condemnation, anger, but we do not agree with this feeling and do not recognize it as ours, then we are not responsible for it before God until we do or we will not say something under the influence of this feeling.
At one time, when I began to become a church member, I often had a certain feeling that I was very ashamed of, a certain obsessive thought. I began to reproach and scold myself in every possible way, and naturally, the more I pushed this thought, the more persistently it came. As soon as I read Father John of Kronstadt, I realized that I don’t need to pay attention to this feeling, that the most important thing is to firmly decide that this is not mine, I don’t want it - and calm down. You need to treat this as if someone from the outside is trying to impose something on me, something that is not mine. And I stopped reproaching and scolding myself, and as soon as this feeling came, I mentally said: “Lord, this is not mine, I don’t want this.” And everything passed.
So to feel something is not in my power, but to say something, to take an action means to let it out, to succumb to this feeling, to agree with it. And of course, we must pray - this is always the very first remedy. The person I envy should be one of the first on my prayer list. As we read in the evening prayers: first, “forgive those who hate and offend us,” and then only, “do good to those who do good.”
I must first pray for the people for whom I have an unkind feeling, but if it does not pass, then it will not hurt to write a separate note and submit it to the church specifically for those people for whom I will experience an unchristian feeling. Thus, we testify before God that we do not want these feelings, we want to have love, but we understand that only God can give this love.
It is natural to experience hostility, but there is a supernatural thing - the grace of the Holy Spirit, which can change our feelings. You also need to talk about this in confession. Often I ask, “Do you agree with this feeling?” "No". “Do you want him not to exist?” "Want". This means, don’t torture yourself, it’s not your fault, but you need to confirm your “want” with deeds.

– We are all equal before God, but equality in the world is impossible. How to learn to come to terms with life, which is given to someone, but not to me.
– For a non-believer, this is really a problem: when life is measured as a segment between the maternity hospital and the cemetery, it’s a shame that someone has it, but not me. But for a believer, everything is simple here: if we see our life in the perspective of eternity, then we understand that it is too early here and now to decide who is given what.
In life, I personally know many examples when people were prosperous, successful, they really had something to envy, and suddenly some changes happened, and they lost everything and found themselves in a helpless position.
If I believe in God, in eternal life, then I know that no deprivation or difficult circumstances prevent me from achieving the greatest gift that must be sought: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Entry into the Kingdom will most likely be hindered by what causes envy in people, for example, “it is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
– Is it bad to want to please others? When I put on a beautiful dress and imagine everyone's delight when they see me, does it turn out that I want to be envied?
“We are still people, and nothing human is alien to us.” It would probably be correct to say: yes, you don’t need to please anyone, you need to dress so that no one notices you. But this will sound hypocritical. When women come to me and talk about their doubts, I want to say: “You are a woman, why do you need to be scary,” on the contrary, I cannot demand that a person look bad.
Of course, everything should be within limits, but we love everything around us to be beautiful and people to be beautiful, is that bad? And this doesn’t necessarily have to cause envy, I’m just pleased that there are beautiful, well-dressed people around me. A person prone to envy will always find something to envy.
Let's imagine the opposite case: everyone around will be unkempt, dirty, poorly dressed, will this be pleasant for those around them? In no case should our appearance concern us much; we must understand that the main thing is inner beauty, but completely neglecting our appearance is the other extreme. Everything should be in moderation.

– Are deeds of mercy a remedy for envy? But the involuntary relief that I am not as unhappy as this suffering patient is that the other side of envy?
- When caring for a sick person - and as a priest I often have to advise the sick - we often do not feel joy, but perceive someone else’s illness as a reminder that today it is him, and tomorrow you, that all this can be with you, and we must appreciate every day. Most illnesses come suddenly, unexpectedly, to people who least expected it, and there must be an understanding that we can all drink this cup.
– Couldn’t envy become a stimulus for development: look, I don’t know how to swim, but I see how others have learned, and I want to too; or my friend has such a beautiful, clean house, I’ll be more careful too? Does “white envy” exist?
– I wouldn’t even call this feeling envy. Envy is only black and nothing else. But the figurative expression “to envy with white envy” simply means to be happy for another. And here, it seems to me, the word jealousy is more suitable. Yes, it bothered me that he could do it, but I couldn’t. And, as a rule, this is a good feeling; the word competition itself comes from the word jealousy. Healthy, good jealousy often pushed people to wonderful, noble deeds.
I remember an example of such jealousy - St. Augustine. He hesitated for a long time whether to accept holy baptism, although he had already believed in Christ with all his heart and understood that the truth was in Christ. The Confessions perfectly describes an episode when a man comes to Augustine and talks about Anthony the Great and about two young people who were very successful, had a wonderful future, beautiful brides, but after reading the life of Anthony the Great, they gave up everything, renounced everything and became monks.
And this captured Augustine, he turned to his friend with tears: what is this, boys are stealing the Kingdom of Heaven! And under the influence of this feeling, he ultimately makes the decision that he could not make for a long time. What is this, envy? No, of course, this is jealousy, he did not have a shadow of malicious intent either towards Anthony the Great or towards these young people, but it was just resentment: how is it that they found these powers in themselves, but I didn’t? I can do it too!
Or the example of Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian, who were friends and competed with each other in virtues. I've always thought that this is one of the most beautiful types of friendship. In Athens they knew only two roads - to the temple of God and to the Academy where they studied, but at the same time each tried to outdo the other in virtues, and when one succeeded, the other tried even harder. This competition did not interfere with their friendship at all, it was friendly competition in a good way. And of course, such jealousy has nothing to do with envy.

– How then can I not be afraid of being worse than others in society, how can I come to terms with the fact that I am not given any talents, that I will definitely not be better at something?
“I was once inspired by the following words: “true greatness is greatness in kindness.” And here no one can stop us. Yes, being a musician, poet, etc. is not given to everyone, but everyone is given the opportunity to achieve greatness through kindness. And we must strive to have as much goodness and love in us as possible. And in parallel with this, all other issues will be resolved, since the more love I have, the less I worry that there is something different in me.
– Is marital jealousy also a type of envy?
– Everything is ambiguous here too. If I love one of the people very much and see that this person loves someone else more than me, then it hurts, and we call this pain jealousy. One must have the wisdom to accept this. God blessed us to love each other, but if the highest and most beautiful feelings that can exist between people - marital love - are trampled upon by one of the spouses, it is very bitter and painful.
Such jealousy is humanly understandable, but then a person can begin to do evil. It is important to be able to say like Pushkin; “I loved you so sincerely, so tenderly, as God grant you to be loved differently,” let go of the person.
God is also a jealous person; the Holy Scriptures repeatedly say that God jealously expects love from us. He wants us to love Him with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our strength, most of all. And if a person loves someone or something more than God, then God does not like it.

– But it happens that when life circumstances improve, friends disappear; how to maintain friendship, how to show that you have not changed?
– In general, everything usually happens the other way around: the more successful a person is, the more friends he has. Like the prodigal son: at first he had many friends, and then, as soon as he “wasted his substance,” everyone left him. True friendship in any case does not depend on what I have, but depends on my personal qualities. If some friends have moved away from me because it seems to them that I have become different, then, first of all, this is a reason to ask yourself: maybe they are right?
After all, of the three tests: fire, water and copper pipes, copper pipes are the hardest; this can be understood as any success in life, not only fame and honor, but also material well-being, when a person has achieved in life what others have not achieved. And here, on the one hand, I must be careful that nothing in me changes under the influence of these changes, and on the other hand, if someone attacks, there is no need to indulge. If someone thinks that I am arrogant, but the accusations are unfounded, it means that this person’s attitude towards me was not pure from the very beginning.
– And if I know that my work colleague is jealous of me, what should I do? I can’t help but date him? Can I change the envious person?
“We can’t change anyone, it’s hard even to change ourselves.” We must try to behave like a Christian. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good,” says the Apostle Paul. You need to treat this person as leniently as possible, pray for him and hope that over time this will pass.
Envy is a disease; often people who cultivate unkind feelings suffer greatly. One day I encountered a man who apparently showed unchristian feelings towards other parishioners. I wanted to say: “What are you doing, you’re a Christian!”
And suddenly he comes to me for confession and begins to say with tears everything that I wanted to express to him: that he sees his evil heart, he understands everything, but he cannot control himself. And here, of course, we can only help with goodwill.
When I feel clearly unkind, I am tempted to respond in kind - a normal human reaction. Normal, but not Christian. Here you just need to look at a person as a suffering patient, wait patiently for something to change in him, and pray for him.
People often think that if they did evil to me, then victory lies in reciprocal evil, and whoever is last wins. But in fact, the greatest victory that a person can achieve over another: defeating evil with good.

Envy accompanies a person throughout his entire history. Already in the fourth chapter of the book of Genesis, that is, immediately after the description of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise, the tragedy of their firstborns is told. Cain is jealous of brother Abel because God accepted the latter’s sacrifice and “did not respect” his own. The continuation is known: Cain does not listen to the voice of God, lures his brother into the field and kills him. As punishment, the Lord condemns the criminal to exile. What do the Church Fathers say about this truly murderous sin?

1. John Chrysostom

Saint John Chrysostom compares the envious person to a dung beetle, a pig and even a demon. According to him, envy is direct enmity against God, who favors this or that person. In this sense, the envious person is even worse than demons: they harm people, while the envious person wishes harm to his own kind.

“Envy is worse than enmity,” says the saint. – When a person at war forgets the reason for which the quarrel occurred, he also ceases the hostility; an envious person will never become a friend. Moreover, the former fights openly, and the latter – secretly; the former can often indicate a sufficient reason for enmity, while the latter cannot point to anything other than his madness and satanic disposition.”

An example from life. Two people are applying for a position with a good salary and prospects for career growth. If the spiritual needs of these people are low and their material needs are high, then, most likely, competition will arise between them, and against its background - an explicit or implicit conflict.

On the part of the one who receives the coveted position, the conflict will be settled as soon as he takes the chair. But the “loser,” if he is at all prone to envy, will aggravate the conflict even more and will certainly fall into this sin - even when he finds another job, he will remember that this worthless person took HIS place.

Envy really resembles madness in the most medical sense: an obsessive state. One way to get rid of an obsessive state is to try to rationalize it.

A person is successful, which means that God is glorified through him. If this person is your neighbor, it means that through him you are successful, and through you God is also glorified. If this person is your enemy, then you need to strive to make him your friend - for the sake of the fact that God is glorified through him.

2. John Cassian the Roman

The opinion common to the entire Holy Tradition is that it was out of envy that the serpent attacked Eve. It was envy of man's unique status as the image and likeness of God that led him to strive to overthrow it. Moreover, the devil provokes the foremother Eve to envy: “You will be like gods, knowing good and evil.” It is envy of these non-existent gods that pushes the first woman to violate God’s commandments. So, indeed, a satanic vice.

The Monk John Cassian the Roman categorically asserts that envy cannot be overcome by one’s own efforts. In response to virtue, the envious person only becomes embittered. Thus, Joseph’s goodwill and helpfulness embittered his eleven brothers even more. When he went to feed them in the field, they decided to kill their brother - the idea of selling him into slavery was already a softening of their original intention...

Old Testament history is repeated at all times, albeit without criminality. In many teenage groups there will be guys who will call an excellent student who explains complex problems to his narrow-minded classmates a “nerd” - and it’s good if they don’t put chewing gum, or even a button, on the chair...

There is no need to despair. St. John Cassian gives universal advice: pray.

“So that the basilisk (devil), with one bite of this evil (envy) alone, does not destroy everything that is alive in us, which is, as it were, inspired by the vital action of the Holy Spirit, we will constantly ask for God’s help, for which nothing is impossible.”

3. Basil the Great

Prayer is no less hard work than, for example, fasting exercises. Not everyone can do it without proper training, and the battle with envy is necessary here and now. What to do?

Saint Basil the Great gives two very simple pieces of advice. First: realize that there is nothing to envy at all. Wealth, fame, honor and respect are absolutely earthly things, which you also need to learn how to use correctly.

“Those who are still unworthy of our competition are the rich for the sake of his wealth, the ruler for the sake of the greatness of his dignity, the wise for the sake of his abundance in words. These are instruments of virtue for those who use them well, but do not contain bliss in themselves... And whoever is such, who is not struck by the worldly as something great, envy can never approach him.”

The second advice is to “sublimate” your envy into a creative transformation of yourself, the achievement of many virtues. True, this recommendation is suitable for combating a special type of envy associated with ambition:

“If you absolutely desire fame, want to be more visible than many and cannot stand being second (for this can also be a reason for envy), then direct your ambition, like some kind of stream, towards the acquisition of virtue. Do not, under any circumstances, desire to become rich in any way or to earn approval through anything worldly. For it is not in your will. But be just, chaste, prudent, courageous, patient in suffering for the sake of piety.”

Even if we don’t touch on high virtues, the advice is more than practical. Let's say two young people are interested in playing the guitar. One becomes a rock star in his city, and the other plays three chords in the transition. For the second, the easiest way is to start envying a successful friend - it’s more difficult, firstly, to estimate the risks (Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix were enormously talented and wildly popular, which did not protect them from an ugly and terrible death, but only stimulated a tragic end), and secondly, learn additional chords and go beyond your favorite transition.

Gradual growth in professionalism, tied to training and self-discipline, may not take you to Olympus, but it will allow you to develop, play and compose music for your own pleasure.

4. Theophan the Recluse

If it is quite difficult to resist an envious person with a kind attitude, as the Holy Scripture directly testifies to (the above example of Joseph and his brothers, King Saul, who continues to envy David and persecute him despite his humility...), then the envious person himself can and must overcome his passion through “I don’t want” – precisely by changing behavior towards one’s “victim”. No matter how hard it is.

“Well-wishers, in whom feelings of sympathy and compassion prevail over selfish ones, do not suffer from envy. This shows the way to extinguish envy and everyone tormented by it. You must hasten to arouse goodwill, especially towards the one you envy, and show it in action - the envy will immediately subside. A few repetitions of the same kind, and with God’s help, it will completely subside,” says St. Theophan the Recluse.

In other words, when compassion and empathy for one’s neighbor becomes a habit, there will be no room for envy.

Almost a textbook example: a lonely young lady, consumed by envy of successful “gossips,” suddenly finds out that her prosperous, married and rich friend’s husband is a drug addict, and all her well-being is for show. If the process of envy has not yet started too strongly, the envious woman (perhaps at first, and not without gloating) rushes to help her friend... and in the process of jointly calling drug treatment clinics, friendly conversations and mutual tears in the kitchen, she is so imbued with her neighbor’s grief that she no longer speaks of envy remembers. Compassion for grief turns out to be higher than envy for success.

5. Maxim the Confessor

By the way, there is another side to this advice: if possible, there is no need to give reasons for envy. If you don’t want to be envied, don’t boast about your success, wealth, intelligence and happiness.

“The only other way to calm him down is by hiding it from him. If something is useful for many, but causes him grief, then which side should he neglect? We must stand on the side of what is useful for many; but if possible, do not neglect it and do not allow yourself to be carried away by the deceit of passion, giving help not to passion, but to the one suffering from it,” recommends an approach with reasoning, St. Maximus the Confessor.

He also notes that you yourself should get rid of this passion according to the commandment of the Apostle: “rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15).

The first is more difficult. To feel sorry for the unfortunate is a natural movement of the soul. Rejoicing at someone else's happiness is a conscious action dictated by sincere love, when you truly treat your neighbor as yourself. Only the author of the famous “Centuries about Love” could give such advice.

True, sometimes examples of its implementation are found in life. A lonely woman in cramped living conditions worries for a long time that she does not have children, works with adoptive parents, begins to rejoice for the happy children and their new parents... And then suddenly, unexpectedly, circumstances turn out in her favor, and she manages to adopt her child.

6. Gregory the Theologian

As we see, the Fathers of the Church give the same advice on how to combat envy: pray, rejoice for your neighbor, grow in virtue. None of the teachers of the Church conduct master classes on overcoming envy. Precisely because the birth of this passion can be traced from the Bible, precisely because it is obviously inexcusable as a direct product of the devil, the main weapon against it is reproof.

Saint Gregory the Theologian believed that envy, oddly enough, is not without justice - already in this life it punishes the sinner.

The fathers say that an envious person’s face becomes withered, he looks bad... In our life, an envious person is easily recognized by his pursed lips and wrinkles. He is dissatisfied with life, he always grumbles (especially at the object of his passion). I will say more: many diseases that are psychosomatic in nature, from pancreatitis to asthma, are aggravated by the envious person. “It’s unfair that someone else is more successful than me!” - this thought eats up the unfortunate person, not only his soul, but also his body.

This is bad justice, hellish. This alone should turn a person away from such a destructive passion.

“Oh, when would envy be destroyed between people, this ulcer for those possessed by it, this poison for those suffering from it, this one of the most unjust and at the same time just passions - an unjust passion, because it disturbs the peace of all good people, and a fair one, because it dries feeding her! - St. Gregory exclaims.

7. Ephraim the Syrian

The basis of envy is the so-called “agonal spirit” - the ability of an individual to be in constant struggle, competition, rivalry, aggression. Agonality was a characteristic feature of ancient culture (from where a large number of games and competitions come from) and is present in a very primitive form in modern life: you can compete in who has the coolest iPhone or fashionable clothes.

The word “agonality” has the same root as αγωνία (struggle). With this word we call the dying state, the body’s attempt to fight for survival, the last convulsive breaths. This is not a coincidence - the struggle for life is a direct consequence of the presence of death in the world. And death was brought into the world by sin and the devil. Paradoxically, struggle, which in nature is a manifestation of life, in the human world itself represents death.

This is especially obvious when someone “competes” not in real life values, but in external ones, expressed in the primitive “I want to be cooler.” Thus, a person becomes closer to the devil - one with him, the “agonistic” spirit.

“And whoever is wounded by envy and rivalry is pitiful, because he is an accomplice of the devil, through whom death entered the world (Wisdom 2:24), reminds St. Ephraim the Syrian. “Whoever has envy and rivalry is the enemy of everyone, because he does not want anyone else to be preferred to him.”

The same saint emphasizes: the envious person has already been defeated, he is tormented by any other person’s joy, while the lucky person who has escaped this passion is happy about the success of another.

Let no one find the comparison with death far-fetched. It is enough to look not even around, but inside yourself.

“Why does my neighbor have a new apartment and car, but I work hard from morning to night - and I have nothing?” - a truly hard-working person is indignant - and does not have time to live behind these thoughts. Instead of spending a day off meeting with his mother, friends, his girlfriend (not to mention going to church), he takes work home, works even harder, but he doesn’t get an apartment or a car, and envy eating more and more...

8. Elijah (Minyatiy)

This passion risks pursuing to death - either the envious person or his victim. In both cases, death is not deliverance. The envious person who goes into eternity in this sin will be condemned for it, and Cain is doomed to exile and contempt. Saint Elijah Minyatiy tells the dramatic story of Queen Eudokia, the wife of Emperor Theodosius, slandered by envious people: unfairly accused of adultery, she was expelled and sent into exile, and her friend Pavlinian was executed.

“And no one received any pleasure from this,” St. Elijah sums up the gloomy conclusion.

The saint draws attention: the envious person does not see the good at all. Any positive example annoys him. Envious eyes, “if they see (good), fill with tears and try not to see, as if involuntarily closing themselves.” But at the same time, it is impossible to hide from them - the envious person watches his victim, cannot tear himself away from her, although it would be easier for himself if he switched his attention to another object.

Indeed, an obsessive state.

9. Paisiy Svyatogorets

Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets has not yet been officially glorified by the Church, but his works and advice have already firmly entered the treasury of Sacred Tradition. For a modern person, his recommendations may be the most useful.

The elder believed that envy was simply ridiculous and could be overcome with basic common sense.

“A person needs to work his head a little to overcome envy. No great feats are required, because envy is a spiritual passion.”

Indeed, you don’t need to be Einstein to understand: because you are consumed by longing for someone else’s Mercedes, not even a Toyota will appear in your garage. Especially if you don’t have a garage either. Stealing someone else's Mercedes is not only sinful, but also criminally punishable, so you should not be jealous, but work. And if the salary is small, be content with a bicycle. But your legs will be healthy.

But the most important thing that Elder Paisios draws attention to is that envy is a sin against one of the Ten Commandments. Even the most non-church person respects the Decalogue, if not on a natural, then on a cultural level. Killing is criminal, praying to idols is stupid, taking a spouse away from the family is immoral, stealing is disgusting... So, envying is also bad.

“If God said: “Thou shalt not covet... everything except thy neighbor,” then how can we covet something that belongs to another? So, why don’t we even keep the basic commandments? Then our life will turn into hell.”

10. Protopresbyter Alexander Shmeman

Father Alexander Schmemann has also not yet been glorified as a saint, and it is unlikely that his canonization will be a matter of the near future - this, however, does not prevent many, many Christians from listening to his opinion on many issues.

Above we talked about agonism - a characteristic characteristic of European culture, competitiveness, which underlies, among other things, the passion of envy. Father Alexander Schmemann goes further: any comparison, from his point of view, is a source of evil. Comparing one in favor of the other suggests that everything should be “fair”, or rather, everything and everyone should be equal.

“Comparison never achieves anything, it is the source of evil, that is, envy (why am I not like him), then anger and, finally, rebellion and division. But this is the exact genealogy of the devil. There is nothing positive here at any point, at any stage, everything is negative from beginning to end. And in this sense, our culture is “demonic,” because it is based on comparison.”

Comparison and envy abolish differences.

“Since comparison always, mathematically, leads to experience, knowledge of inequality, it always leads to protest,” continues the theologian. “Equality is affirmed as the absence of any differences, and since they exist, to the fight against them, that is, to a violent equalization and, what is even worse, to the denial of them as the very essence of life.”

There is such an anecdote: the granddaughter of a Decembrist in 1917 hears a noise on the street and sends a maid to find out what is happening.

- There is a revolution, madam.

- ABOUT! Revolution is wonderful! My grandfather also wanted to make a revolution! Find out what the protesters want?

“They want there to be no more rich people.”

- How strange! My grandfather wanted there to be no poor people.

Despite all the absurdity, the joke is quite life-like. Envy taken to the limit does not want happiness for itself, but misfortune for another. May it be as bad for him as it is for me. So that he lives on one salary. Therefore, Schmemann calls the very principle of equality and equalization demonic.

“There is not and cannot be equality in the world; it was created by love, and not by principles. And the world thirsts for love, not equality, and nothing—we know this—kills love so much, replaces it with hatred so much, as precisely this equality, which is constantly imposed on the world as a goal and “value.”

Word from the Primate of the Russian Church after Great Compline with the reading of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on Monday of the first week of Great Lent.

The sin with which a person fights in the name of his salvation is revealed in its entire essence through the vice called pride. A proud person only puts himself at the center of life, leaving everyone else on the periphery. This life position of a proud person entails many dangerous consequences, one of which is the vice of envy.

Reflecting on what envy is, Saint Basil the Great said very apt words: “Envy is grief for the well-being of one’s neighbor.” A proud person cannot put up with the fact that someone is smarter, more beautiful, richer, more successful. After all, if for a proud man he himself is at the center of existence, then who can stop him from occupying this place? And the appearance of anyone who seems more successful and significant causes deep inner pain in a person overwhelmed by pride.

It is envy that reveals the absurdity of pride. Reflecting on envy, Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk said wonderful words: “Other vices and passions at least have imaginary pleasure, but the envious one sins and suffers.” Indeed, if other vices are accompanied, even if imaginary, by pleasure, then envy is pain and always only pain, and no, even imaginary, pleasure. If you do not fight the feeling of envy, it can enslave a person so much that he becomes aggressive and dangerous to others. It is no coincidence that the reason for the first murder that Cain committed at the dawn of human history against his brother Abel was envy. An envious person becomes aggressive and dangerous to others. And the more carefully he hides this inner fire of envy in his heart, the more dangerous it becomes.

How to deal with this challenge? How to fight this vice? The same Tikhon Zadonsky said: “Pride is the mother of envy. Kill the mother and the daughter will die.” To overcome feelings of envy, you need to fight pride. But since pride fully reveals the very nature of sin, it is very difficult to fight this vice, and a person cannot defeat pride except by the power of God. Therefore, prayer, participation in the sacraments of the Church, constant reflection on one’s life, on the movements of one’s soul, on one’s thoughts, and strict self-judgment can help a person overcome pride.

But there are two more wonderful remedies.

The first is the awareness of the fact that the Lord has awarded each person with unique qualities and no two people are absolutely alike. Each person is unique and has his own value before God. No matter how weak, sick, or unsuccessful a person may seem, he has value in the eyes of God. And awareness of this fact helps a person to refrain from envy. The world is big, and everyone has their place in this world. Understanding the uniqueness of man and the wisdom of the Divine plan for man helps us overcome feelings of envy.

And another very important means is good deeds. When we do a good deed to a person, he ceases to be distant to us, he becomes near. We do not envy those to whom we do a good deed. If anyone doubts this, let him try to do a good deed to the person he envies, and the envy will gradually go away, because this person will become close to him.

We must remember that very often we ourselves provoke feelings of envy in those around us. Sometimes it gives pleasure to annoy an envious person, to awaken feelings of envy. For example, when purchasing beautiful new clothes, some people think first of all that these clothes will cause envy among friends or even family and friends. Envy is a dangerous and aggressive vice. And if we ourselves do not want to be wounded by envy, then there is no need to incite envy. Many evils have happened and are happening in this world because of envy.

The time of Great Lent is a time of struggle against vice: both pride and envy. Coming to the temple of God, listening to the wonderful words of prayers and chants, turning with fervent prayer to the Lord for help in our spiritual life, let us ask Him to help us eradicate both pride and envy from our hearts. And having shaken off these vices, we will feel the extraordinary lightness of life, the joy of being. May the Lord help us in the days of the holy and saving Pentecost to gradually but confidently ascend from strength to strength in our movement towards the Lord and Savior. Amen.

The judgment of Osiris is underway. The soul of an ancient Egyptian fell on him. The heart of the deceased is weighed on the scales held by the god Anubis. They look to see if the heart is heavy? Is it full of anger, sadness, greed and envy. If the heart turns out to be heavier than the feather that lies on the other side of the scale, then it will be eaten by the god Amat with the head of a crocodile. He doesn’t have to hope for enlightenment (read: the Kingdom of Heaven, eternal absolute happiness, Moksha in different religions)…

We have described to you an image from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Just four thousand years ago, envy was considered one of the conditions that were destructive to the soul and blocked its path to another bright world.

Envy... It destroys a person from the inside, although it is associated with situations occurring outside of him. She is able to settle in a person’s soul, regardless of temperament, age, experience, status. It doesn’t matter who you are: a millionaire or an unemployed person, a show business star or a housewife, a student or a famous athlete. This destructive and sinful feeling can creep into your heart.

In this article we will try to reveal how this destructive state was perceived thousands of years ago and is perceived now, how it was interpreted in different religions and what are the results of modern research into this feeling.

What is sin?

If we turn to religion, then in both Christianity and Islam those emotions and actions that involve pleasure and personal gain are considered sins. But there is another side: sinful feelings and actions are aimed at self-destruction or the destruction of one’s own kind. The highest creation of God is undoubtedly man. Everything that is aimed at causing harm to a Person (themselves or others of the same Person) is considered sinful. Sins distance one from God, deprive a person of grace, change the state of his heart and change his activity.

Let us consider the harm caused by the example of some sins that are recognized as fatal. Note! The epithet “deadly” in this situation is allegorical; it indicates not physical death, but the death of the soul. After all, it is she who dies when, by committing sins, a person falls away from God.

One of the sins is anger. Even in ancient times, people knew that anger is poison. It poisons a person so much that he begins to look like a demoniac: he is indignant, curses and torments himself, forgets about the peace of mind. This state is destructive and has a very negative effect.

Later, with the development of psychological sciences, anger was studied in more detail and its destructive nature was also proven. This strong emotion can result in a crime, because a person often directs it at people and objects around him. Without controlling himself, he can even kill a person. And if a negative emotion is not managed and you do not learn to suppress it, then it can lead to nervous exhaustion.

Take any sin: gluttony, fornication, despondency (laziness), greed, etc., they are all aimed at self-destruction.

What is envy?

In Wikipedia we read that “envy is a socio-psychological construct that covers various forms of social behavior and feelings that arise in relation to those who have something that the envier wants to have, but does not possess.

Psychologists define envy as a negative mental state that leads to destructive feelings and actions for a person. The individual seems unprotected from the successes of others: they are perceived as injustice and reduce self-esteem.

Envy in Christianity and biblical stories

Envy is a devilish state of mind.
This is sadness that your neighbor is doing well.
The source of envy is pride: after all, a proud person cannot tolerate and accept that another has something that he does not have.
Envy is the opposite of love.
“If you find envy, you will find the devil with it” (St. Isaac the Syrian).

Such definitions of envy were given by the holy fathers in different centuries. They all have one thing in common: the complete conviction that this feeling has a destructive beginning for the person himself, in whose heart a “worm” has settled and gnaws at him day and night, making him deeply unhappy.

What is the essence of envy, according to church leaders? They believe that everyone is given exactly as much as is predetermined by God’s plan. Envy gives rise to the desire to possess what someone else has, but you don’t. It comes into conflict with God’s plan and puts a person in a kind of “confrontation” with the Lord, that is, on the side of the Devil.

Wikipedia identifies several stages in the development of this harmful feeling:

inappropriate competition;
zeal with vexation;
censure (slander) towards someone towards whom envy is felt.

These stages are indicated in the work “On Envy” by St. Ambrose of Optina. It also contains a parable in which various destructive passions were compared. Her main idea is that you cannot please an envious person:

“Once upon a time, a Greek king wanted to know who was worse than the money-lover and envious one. He called both of them to him. The king told them that they asked him for something, just let them know that he would give the second more than what the first asked.

And the “competition” between the envious and the money-lover began as to who would ask for more, and no one knew who to ask first. Then the king ordered the envious man to ask first. Then the envious one, driven by hatred of the money-lover, said: “Gouge out my eye.”

The king was surprised by this request and wanted to know the reason for this desire. The envious man replied: “Then you will order my opponent to gouge out both his eyes.” This is the essence of envy: the person who is possessed by it desires harm to another so much that he is ready to harm even himself.

The Story of Cain and Abel

According to the Bible and the Koran, the first manifestation of envy was the feeling that flared up in the heart of Cain. It deprived one of God's blood brothers of his mind and pushed him to murder. The essence of the story is that Cain and Abel brought gifts to the Lord: the first - the fruits of the earth, and the second - lambs. But God did not respect the gifts of Cain, for which he rebelled against Abel and killed him. There are up to a dozen interpretations of this story, but one thing is clear: a feeling of envy led to murder, to the destruction of one’s neighbor.

The story of Joseph and his brothers

The sons of Jacob were jealous of their brother Joseph because their father singled him out from the rest and loved him more than all of them. The envy in their hearts boiled even more when He spoke about His dreams. The interpretation of Joseph's dreams was clear: it indicated that in the future he would dominate his brothers.

Overwhelmed by envy, the brothers decided to destroy their brother: first they threw him into a ditch so that he would meet his death there, then, so as not to take on the sin of murder, they sold him into slavery to passing merchants.

The story of David and the envy of King Saul

David served King Saul and, as a warrior, was distinguished by his courage. When they returned after defeating the Philistines, the people greeted them with the words: “King Saul defeated thousands, and David - tens of thousands.” Then a worm of envy settled in Saul’s heart and he decided to get rid of David, but he did not know that the Lord was with him. He tried to kill him several times, but the king did not succeed.

Perhaps the most famous example of destructive envy is the tragic situation with Jesus Christ. The Pharisees and scribes, driven by envy and a thirst for primacy and power, did everything so that Christ would be crucified and die on the cross.

Envy can creep into the soul of anyone: both a monarch and a commoner, a person of any status and age. Psychologists note that people over 50 are less envious. I think this is due to the fact that with age you begin to appreciate what you have more and not waste your mental strength on comparing yourself with others.

Envy in Buddhism

In the sacred book of Buddhism - the Tibetan Book of the Dead - envy is not included in the 5 main sins (they are called “limitless”: inciting strife among religious communities, paternal and matricide, killing a saint and shedding the blood of a Buddha. Envy has a higher and lower manifestation. In the first case, it personifies perseverance, the desire to achieve a goal and fearlessness (there are similarities with the characteristics of “white envy” in our understanding, right? In the second, lower manifestation, envy is similar to a deadly poison and stands in the same row as that). hatred, lust, pride and stupidity. But the difference from the Christian and modern interpretation of this sin is that this feeling is considered harmful not because of the pain it causes to the envious person and others. The destructive power of envy is that it is not envy. allows the deceased to be reborn, as it fetters his consciousness with memories of earthly life.

About the destructive power of envy through the eyes of psychologists

Undoubtedly, in psychology, envy is considered a destructive feeling. Entire programs and algorithms have been created to overcome it. It is clear as daylight that this feeling must be fought, since it poisons a person’s life. Or rather, a person stops living in pleasure, turning every day into torture.

Experts distinguish two types of envy...

Unconscious. A person does not realize that he is experiencing negative emotions due to the fact that those around him work better, buy and have more. Being unconscious, the feeling is disguised as a constant bad mood, irritability, depressive symptoms, and dissatisfaction with life. If you do not work to eliminate these psychological problems, then it is fraught with neuroses, family and personal dramas - everything that can irrevocably ruin a person’s life.
Conscious. It can be no less painful. A person experiencing envy understands that this feeling is socially condemned, that it is sinful (if he is a believer). This consciousness is accompanied by painful experiences and the desire to get rid of negative emotions (unless, of course, we are talking about a deeply immoral person).

Is it possible to overcome negative feelings?

If a person has enough mental strength, motivation, opportunities, and most importantly, if he has the desire to get rid of a sinful feeling, then he will overcome it in a constructive way. Having recognized the successes of others, he will direct all his efforts to becoming better and more successful. In this situation, “the happiness of his neighbor” will become an impetus for him to achieve his own happiness. This type of envy is also called “white”.

The situation is completely different with “black envy”. It is dangerous for the person himself or for those around him in relation to whom it arose. The envious person tries to get rid not of the emotion itself, but of the source that caused such a “storm” in him. Mental anguish leads to aggression directed at oneself, at objects, at others and the desire to destroy the source of envy. Psychologists distinguish several types of destruction:

Symbolic (tearing up a photograph, turning to sorcerers, repeating a thought and sincerely believing that the other person’s luck will end there and misfortune will befall him).
Psychological. It is expressed in bullying, humiliation, belittling, and spreading rumors. All these actions are aimed at ruining the good relationship of the person being envied and making him suffer.
Physical (ruin, arson, removal from the road, etc.)
Fatal biological (murder).

All these methods are destructive and belong to crimes. They clearly prove that we are dealing with a sinful feeling (although in this situation it is viewed from a scientific point of view, and not through the prism of religion).

Psychologists are sure that envious people poison their lives, they are deeply unhappy, they perceive events negatively, they turn the joy and happiness of others into their own irritability, the successes of others into their own inferiority.

Envy is mortally dangerous. Wolfgang Gruber, an Austrian psychologist and psychosomatic specialist, has been conducting research for many years. He is interested in how feelings and emotions lead to illness. He named the 5 most destructive feelings: envy, jealousy, greed, self-pity and self-flagellation. He proved that envy is a slow poison and increases the risk of a heart attack by 2.5 times.

Envy in history

Some historians and researchers note that envy can change the course of history, as, for example, it did at the beginning of the 20th century. In their opinion, the masses, driven by a feeling of envy of what is superior and has already established qualities, staged a coup - the Russian Revolution of 2017. They tried to achieve equality at all costs.

Is everyone equally susceptible to envy?

It is believed that not everyone is equally susceptible to this deadly sin. Psychologists note that children grow up envious due to the fault of their parents. This happens when a child has been instilled with destructive attitudes:

They were not taught to accept themselves as they are.
They were not allowed to feel manifestations of unconditional love. Praise only for achieving certain goals is not what children need.
They scolded us for any failure to follow the rules. They used physical punishment and said offensive words to him.
They were instilled with the idea that living is hard, making money is difficult, wealth is bad, restrictions and sacrifice are normal.
They were not allowed to use their own things at their own discretion.
They developed a feeling of guilt for joy, success, happiness.

The result of such an attitude and upbringing is a person who does not know how to enjoy life, is unsure of himself, with a large number of complexes and restrictions. Unable to realize himself, he destroys the psyche with envy arising in it.

It is important to convey to the child that comparing and identifying oneself with others is wrong. After all, it is the “worse-better” criterion that becomes the main one in assessing actions and achievements. One cannot help but recall the words of church ministers: “What we sow, so we reap,” “Where there is no love, there is envy.”

Both psychologists and church ministers are confident that it is necessary to eradicate envy in oneself, because it corrodes the soul, like rust corrodes iron. It is its destructive nature that makes it the main sin; moreover, envy does not go alone: along with it comes the lust for power, the “love of money,” crimes up to and including murder.