“You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” – James 4:2-3

Is God a good God?

Do you believe God has great things for you?

When you look at what other people have, do you feel envy or jealousy, or do you think, “Good for them. God is really blessing them. I will ask God to bless me too.”

When we envy others it shows a lack of trust in God’s ability to provide and bless. But when we are happy for other people’s blessings and ask God to bless us too, it is a good indicator of our faith and it shows that we believe in the goodness of God.

I admit… I have struggled with envy in my life. I wasn’t envious of material blessings, even when Randy and I didn’t have much, but I was envious of relationships and closeness within families. I wanted so desperately to have what they had.

Then I learned to go to God and ask Him for help.

I remember reading 2 Samuel 12:8 when the prophet Nathan confronted David for having an affair with Bathsheba and killing her husband, Uriah: “I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.”

What stood out to me from this Scripture was where God said, “And if this had been too little, I would have given you more.”

This really spoke to me, and it hit me like a ton of bricks: I was envying what other people had instead of counting my blessings for what I DO have and then asking God to bless me more.

Our God is so good. He loves giving good gifts to His children. The next time you are tempted to compare and envy what other people have, make the choice to be thankful and ask God to bless you:

💚 If you envy someone else’s marriage or relationship with a child, ask God to bless your marriage and your relationship with your children Ask Him to heal any broken places and give you a whole new relationship. Friend, God can do ANYTHING, and it pleases Him when we go to Him and ask for His goodness to overflow in our lives! The God of the universe has the ability to give you a whole new and better relationship where you can all flow in the power of the Holy Spirit in the way that you love each other, and this flow will give your family the ability to enjoy your relationships more.

💚 If you are envious of someone else’s financial blessings, ask God to help you count your blessings for what you do have, enjoy what you have more, and bless you more than you can ask or imagine. He can give you His Spirit to help you really enjoy your home, your car, your vacations, etc. Material blessings in themselves do not bring lasting joy; the new will always wear off, but God can enable you to enjoy your material blessings, even if your house is smaller, your car is older, or you have just $5 in your bank account. He is the one who can give you pure joy, so ask Him to bless what you do have and to help you enjoy it.

I don’t have all of this figured out; I still sometimes struggle with envy. But now I try to repent and ask God to turn my heart away from envy, and then I pray and ask God to “open the floodgates of heaven” in my life and to give me “exceedingly more than I can ask or imagine” (Eph 3:20), according to His perfect will for my life. I know I can trust Him because He is good.

With Love,

Deb and the Help Club for Moms Team

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Deb Weakly

Co-founder at Help Club for Moms

My name is Deb Weakly and I helped create the Help Club for Moms with one goal in mind: to create a community in which moms help moms to know the love of Christ. My own childhood was difficult and filled with sadness. I didn’t grow up in a Christian home, so when I became a Christian (and soon after, a mom), I had no idea what I was doing; I didn’t know what it meant to raise Christ-centered kids, but I so desperately wanted to learn.

I remember going into my daughter's room night after night and kneeling beside her bed and crying my heart out to God because I didn’t know how to be a Christian mom; I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. You know what? God is so faithful! He answered me and simply said, “Spend time with me, Deb.” And so I did. I began arising 15-30 minutes earlier each day so I could read my Bible and pray, and plan out my day with my family.

If there was one thing I would love to share with you is that God is personal and loves you as you are. You don’t have to be perfect to be loved by our amazing God! Come as you are! His loving presence can be practically known and experienced. He is not a God who is far away, He is near and easily found. He longs for you to come to Him!

Randy and I have been married for 33 years and we have two grown children, Christie, and Jack, and one answer to prayer son-in-law named Alex. And now I get to be a Gigi to my sweet little grandbabies, Aspen and Skylar, and Piper. Yay!

Latest posts by Deb Weakly (see all)

• Homeschooling with Heaven: Partnering with Jesus in Your Homeschool - April 17, 2024
• Mothering with Deb: What to Do When Your Child Struggles with Their Faith - April 16, 2024
• Hearing God Episode Four: Hearing God For Your Kids - April 14, 2024