Envy at Work:
Battling Discontentment at the Workplace

Eliza Tan

It was not what the email contained that surprised me, but my reaction to it. A colleague from another team was getting promoted, the email read, following the departure of his superior. 

I had nothing against this colleague. Still, a thought popped into my head: That could have been me. I’m his equal—if not more experienced and capable than him. If I were in his team, I’d have been the one getting promoted.

I deserve better, I told myself. These thoughts energised me. I updated my résumé and sent out job applications that very same day. 

Was that envy? I wondered much later that week, as I mulled over the email and the emotions it triggered. And if it was envy, what’s wrong with it?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines envy as “a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities, or luck”. 

To tell the truth, I had trouble recognising that my reactions were produced by envy. I even excused my thoughts because I neither intended harm nor harboured ill-intent against my colleague. But God’s Word pointed out the truth of my condition. I had to acknowledge my envy.

Here, the apostle James calls envy “unspiritual”, even “demonic”. Envy doesn’t simply reside in our heads but can manifest itself in our behaviour. 

I saw it in myself when I couldn’t bring myself to congratulate my colleague even though I wanted to “rejoice with those who rejoice”, as the apostle Paul teaches us in Romans 12:15.

Social scientists note that social comparison is fundamental to human thinking. We want to know where we stand compared to others in our performance, our possessions, and our personality.

That’s why it’s natural to desire affirmation, recognition, and joy at work. Yet, a perceived lack of these things compared to others can breed envy and discontentment. Envy can also rear its ugly head when you don’t want other people to do well. 

Or, at least, when you don’t want them to do better than you.

The Bible makes it very clear that envy is characteristic of the sinful nature. In Galatians 5:19–21, the apostle Paul listed envy as one of the obvious acts of the flesh and warned that “those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God”.

Envy can reveal an unbelief in God’s wisdom and love. Those of us who harbour envy may question God’s wisdom. We may blame Him for withholding a personal quality we desire or for blessing someone else with something we want. 

Our Daily Bread author Winn Collier explains: “Unable to see ourselves as God’s beloved, we despise who we are, and then turn our envious gaze toward others to make up for our lack.” 

Asaph, who wrote Psalm 73, knew from experience how focusing on others and the blessings they received stirred up envy in his heart. When he “saw the prosperity of the wicked” who did not believe in God, he “envied the arrogant” and questioned God’s justice and sovereignty (v. 3). 

Only when the troubled psalmist entered the sanctuary and redirected his attention to God did he see God’s eternal perspective and confess his ignorance and bitterness (vv. 17, 21–22).

Scripture confirms the detrimental effects of envy, which we can easily observe in lives around us. Proverbs 14:30 says, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”

Just like a severe bout of flu can lead to aching bones, the malady of envy can gnaw at the soul. We deny ourselves life-giving peace when we foster envy and discontent in our hearts.

King Solomon, one of the wisest men who ever lived, found that envy generated an endless cycle of work that was in vain. “I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 4:4).

Envy can lead one to perform sinister acts. The chief priests and elders handed Jesus over to Pilate the governor, leading to the most heinous act in human history—the crucifixion of a completely innocent man—because of their envy (Matthew 27:18 ESV). 

While we might not commit such vile acts against our colleagues, envy could compel us to regard them as rivals, disparage their work, gloat over their mistakes, or withhold help from them.

The apostle Peter was adamant that believers should “rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind” (1 Peter 2:1). 

Because the living and enduring Word of God works in our lives, we can “love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22–23). When we develop deep roots in the truth and are nourished by His Word, we can truly testify that “the Lord is good” (2:1–3). 

Wrestling with God over my feelings enabled me to acknowledge, confess, and repent of my envy. I remembered His goodness to me in the course of my work: an appreciative boss, helpful colleagues, and His provision through it all. 

I chose to thank God for my promoted colleague and his contributions to the company. And God surprised me when this colleague, on his own initiative, shared with me resources that I needed for my work. 

When we’ve tasted God’s goodness, we can bask in His enduring love. “We discover that we do not need to possess anything or perform anything or accomplish anything. We are simply loved and delighted in by the God who has already moved heaven and earth to call us his beloved children,” writes Collier.

1 Corinthians 13:4 is clear: “Love does not envy”. This is only possible when out of love for God, we submit to Him and bear the fruit of the Spirit in love, kindness, and goodness. Experiencing His love enables us to love our colleagues.

When we live by the Spirit’s guidance, He will warn us of our sinful desires, envy included, so that we can put them to death (Galatians 5:24–25). “That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse,” as the Message paraphrases Paul’s words in Galatians 5:26.