Choosing Celebration

<p>Writer Marilyn McEntyre shares the story of learning from a friend that &ldquo;the opposite of envy is celebration.&rdquo; Despite this friend&rsquo;s physical disability and chronic pain, which limited her ability to develop her talents in the ways she&rsquo;d hoped, she was somehow able to uniquely embody joy and to celebrate with others, bringing &ldquo;appreciation into every encounter&rdquo; before she passed away.</p> <p>That insight&mdash;&ldquo;the opposite of envy is celebration&rdquo;&mdash;lingers with me, reminding me of friends in my own life who seem to live out this kind of comparison-free, deep, and genuine joy for others.</p> <p>Envy is an easy trap to fall into. It feeds on our deepest vulnerabilities, wounds, and fears, whispering that if we were only more like so-and-so, we wouldn&rsquo;t be struggling, and we wouldn&rsquo;t be feeling bad.</p> <p>As Peter reminded new believers in 1 Peter 2, the only way to &ldquo;rid [ourselves]&rdquo; of the lies that envy tells us is to be deeply rooted in the truth, to &ldquo;have tasted&rdquo;&mdash;deeply experienced&mdash;"that the Lord is good&rdquo; (vv. 1&ndash;3). We can freely &ldquo;love one another deeply, from the heart&rdquo; (1:22) when we know the true source of our joy&mdash;&ldquo;the living and enduring word of God&rdquo; (v. 23).</p> <p>And we can surrender comparison when we remember who we really are&mdash;beloved members of &ldquo;a chosen people, . . . God&rsquo;s special possession,&rdquo; &ldquo;called . . .&nbsp; out of darkness into his wonderful light&rdquo; (2:9).</p>