“Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.”
The Comparison
The Preacher names something worth taking seriously here, envied of his neighbour, worth holding as honest acknowledgment that even genuine, right work often, actually produces this described envy from others, worth examining whether this same dynamic has characterized your own experience of being envied.
This is worth examining from the other direction as well, worth considering whether your own envy has been directed toward someone’s genuine, right work, rather than anything actually wrong, worth holding as needed honesty that envy often, actually targets legitimate achievement, not merely ill-gotten gain.
Notice this is also vanity, worth holding as this Preacher’s own honest verdict, this whole cycle of work producing envy named directly as vanity, worth considering what this means for how much weight you place on either achieving enough to avoid envy, or envying others’ genuine achievement.
Consider today both directions this verse names, whether you have been envied for genuine work, or have envied someone else’s genuine work, and receive this Preacher’s own honest verdict, vanity, worth holding as needed perspective on this whole exhausting, comparison-driven cycle.
Choose Contentment
- Consider whether your own genuine work has produced envy from others, and how you have handled this.
- Examine honestly whether you have envied someone else’s genuine, legitimate achievement.
- Receive this Preacher’s verdict, vanity, as needed perspective on this whole comparison-driven cycle.
Prayer
Lord, even right work is often envied, and this is vanity. Let me hold both directions of this honestly, neither seeking to avoid envy nor giving in to envying others. Amen.
Carry this today
Even genuine, right work often produces envy. This whole cycle is named honestly as vanity.