Envy Can Turn a Brother into an Enemy
Envy Can Turn a Brother into an Enemy: an original Genesis 37:18-20 KJV devotional with biblical context and practical application.
“And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.”
Genesis 37:18-20 KJV
Joseph was still some distance away when the conversation turned murderous. The brothers were no longer considering him as someone to love or even someone with whom they could disagree honestly. Envy had reduced him to an obstacle they wanted removed.
Read the passage carefully
Most resentment does not begin with a plan this terrible. It begins with repeated comparison, a private delight in another person's embarrassment, or the assumption that their blessing has taken something from us. When such thoughts are welcomed, they make harsher conduct seem reasonable. The passage exposes the direction in which hatred can travel when a group keeps encouraging it instead of interrupting it.
Pay attention to the conversations that strengthen resentment. Refuse the joke designed to humiliate someone who is absent. Do not pass along a damaging claim because it confirms what you already wanted to believe. Speak truthfully about real wrongdoing through proper channels, but separate that responsibility from the pleasure of bringing another person down. A grievance does not become righteous simply because several people share it.
Carry this truth into the day
Christ calls His people to a love that seeks another person's good. That command reaches the person whose gifts, opportunities, or recognition make us uncomfortable. We need His grace to confess envy before it grows into conduct we once would have condemned. Give thanks for what the Lord has entrusted to you, fulfill your own responsibilities, and learn to rejoice without making every blessing a contest. Joseph's brothers spoke as though destroying the dreamer could place the future under their control. Their words reveal how badly resentment can distort judgment. A heart brought honestly before God can begin turning from that distortion while the wrong still exists in thought and speech rather than in an action that cannot easily be undone.
Why the setting matters
Joseph's brothers see him approaching and conspire against him. Their hostility toward his dreams becomes a plan to kill him and conceal what they have done.
Continue in the Word
Read further: Genesis 37 in the King James Bible.