Tuesday, November 16 Diotrephes, who likes to have the first place among them, does not accept anything from us with respect.​—3 John 9.

[Áine]

Tuesday, November 16

Diotrephes, who likes to have the first place among them, does not accept anything from us with respect.—3 John 9.

 

In the first century, Diotrephes envied those who took the lead in the Christian congregation. He wanted “to have the first place” among congregation members, so he spread malicious talk to discredit the apostle John and other responsible brothers. (3 John 10) Although not going as far as Diotrephes, we too could begin to envy a fellow Christian who receives an assignment that we had hoped to get—especially if we feel that we are just as qualified as he is to care for that responsibility. Envy is like a poisonous weed. Once the seed of envy takes root in our heart, it can be difficult to destroy. Envy feeds on other negative feelings, such as improper jealousy, pride, and selfishness. Envy can choke the development of good qualities, such as love, compassion, and kindness. As soon as we see envy starting to sprout, we need to uproot it from our heart. w20.02 15 ¶6-7

[Vinnie]

 Envy is described as a poisonous weed. It's bad enough keeping weeds out of a garden, but a poisonous one would be dangerous to have a may need extreme measures to get rid of.

[Gruder]

  There is a drastic difference between being in the center of the congregation (in which we are encouraged to be fully involved), in contrast to wanting to be the Head (most important).  Different qualities are at work. The "fruits of the spirit" are needed to be in the center, versus when we have an over-inflated view of ourselves: pride, envy, greed are prominent.
  We can compare it to many situations we see in the world around us in politics and business. We've heard the word: 

POWER GRAB
noun
defined :
  "(especially in a political context) an attempt to obtain control over something in an opportunistic or unscrupulous way." 

We need to be cautious to avoid such an attitude. 
We know from many Biblical examples that Jehovah HATES those displaying this attitude.

 

 

[Sister Twister]

A weed starts off with a very small root easy to remove once it becomes deep rooted it’s very difficult to remove and if not completely destroyed will grow back.

 

what a powerful way to visualise the danger of envy .