Envy and Selfish Ambition

James 3:14-16

James says that "where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice." Isn't it interesting how much temptation can be reduced to envy and/or to selfish ambition. We want what someone else has so we lie or cheat to get it. We want to be better than a coworker, so we backstab him or her to make sure they know we're the best. What is even more interesting is that James says such things are the opposite of godly wisdom. Godly wisdom, according to James is considerate, submissive, and merciful, among other things. Even knowing that envy and selfish ambition are at odds with God's wisdom, I will be the first to admit that I have bragged about things that I have done to stay on top and to keep others down. I don't think there's a switch to flip to turn those things off. Perhaps it starts with a desire for a quiet life, rather than a desire to be better than everyone else. To that, you might remember that working for the Lord means showing love to everyone around you. It will take incremental steps, probably with a number of backslides, but living life by God's wisdom rather than envy and selfish ambition is important, at work or anywhere else.