Satan’s sneaky ways have manipulated envy from one of the seven deadly sins to one of the most marketable advertising campaigns, Pastor Rick Warren says.
“Today, entire consumer industry is built on envy. Every single advertisement is built on envy,” Warren says. “Satan has these tools called catalogs that create envy.”
Specifically, the head of Saddleback Church says, popular fashion magazines like Vogue and Glamour should be called Envy and Envier.
Indulging in envy is the No. 1 barrier keeping believers from fulfilling God’s calling on their lives, Warren says.
“(It will) cause you to waste your entire life. It’s a very subtle sin, an insidious attitude that will keep you, more than any other thing in your life, this one thing will cause you to miss God’s best for your life.”
The sin destroys us and those around us.
“Envy is hidden. We don’t realize how it devalues other people, how it damages relationships, how it destroys your happiness and makes you miserable,” Warren says.
The antidote?
To praise the success of others, the pastor says. If you enjoy the happiness of others, as prescribed in Romans 12, you will eliminate envy from your life. {eoa}
Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church. His book, The Purpose Driven Church, was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th century. He is also founder of pastors.com, a global Internet community for pastors.
