Envy or Love?

What motivates you? Seriously, consider your life, what you’ve acquired, the job you have, your mate, and ask yourself that question: what motivates me? I would propose that there are two motivations that drive people to do what they do: Envy or Love. In my prayer time this morning, this passage popped in to my mind:

Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.-Philippians 1:15-18

As in advancing the Kingdom, so many are living their lives either out of envy or love. Those who do so out of envy do so because they want to keep up with the proverbial Joneses, satisfying their flesh with the latest and greatest trend or thing. They are never satisfied with what they have been given, and must always seek more, because there is always more to be had. The thing about living in envy through the flesh is this: the flesh is never satisfied, there is never enough to have, and if given everything it wants, will always feel empty. The flesh, and indeed, envy, starves in a land of plenty.

Those who live out of love never look at their own plates to see if they have enough, but instead feed people from their own plates, even if it means they must go without. Love is the mission, and I would propose this: that it is never fully realized until it comes to fruition through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are made in the image of God, and what God has created as “good” cannot be fully overcome by the evils of the flesh. However, love outside of Christ is still self-seeking, desiring to be fulfilled as opposed to giving itself away. True love is modeled by Jesus, who left Heaven to live as one of us, being born of a virgin. And in being born as one of us, He lived the life we could never hope to live, perfect in every way. And then, He gave His perfect life as a ransom for those of us who have broken His law. He paid our debt with His life, and He restored us to life again by rising from the dead. True love, and the way of love is sacrificial. So let us seek, not envy, but love, giving ourselves, as Jesus did, that the Kingdom of God may grow.

Philippians 1

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.