I’m teaching a Sunday School series on the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Cardinal Virtues. This week’s lesson was on Envy and Gratitude and as I began lesson prep I thought “I don’t really have a problem with envy”. At least that’s what I thought.

Turns out most of us don’t think we have a problem with envy. Over a series of years researchers interviewed 18,000 Australian adults asking them to describe themselves on an “envy scale” of one to seven. Over 72% rated themselves with a score between 1 and 3 indicating they weren’t very envious. . Just over 3.6% scored themselves with a 6 or a 7, thereby admitting to being envious. Turns out most of us don’t want to admit we’re envious, at least at times.

Why is that, do you suppose? Anthropologist George W. Foster offers this explanation. “In recognizing envy in himself, a person is acknowledging inferiority with respect to another; he measures himself against someone else, and finds himself wanting. It is, I think, this implied admission of inferiority, rather than the admission of envy, that is so difficult for us to accept.”

What do you envy? A cool car? An impressive home? Another person’s professional or personal success? There are plenty of items to choose from depending on where you’re feeling inferior.

As I was preparing the envy lesson I read about Barak Obama’s 60 ^th birthday party. Obama is six years younger than me but he’s already served as a United States Senator and President of the United States for two terms. I haven’t done either despite my youthful ambitions.. I had to admit, I was a little envious of Mr. Obama’s success. That’s when it hit me: I do have a problem with envy.

Envy is a dumb sin, or so says genius investor Warren Buffet. “Being envious of someone else is pretty stupid. Wishing them badly, or wishing you did as well as they did—all it does is ruin your day. Doesn’t hurt them at all, and there’s zero upside to it. If you’re going to pick a sin, go with something like lust or gluttony. That way at least you’ll have something to remember the weekend for.”

For most of us our envy is ignited by social media. We see Facebook friends with happy smiling faces, beautiful marriages and kids, fantastic trips complete with breathtaking photos. Facebook scrolling prompts us to envy. Dr. Susan Biali wrote in Psychology Today:

A study published in 2016 in Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking found that taking a one week break from Facebook increased overall life satisfaction and positive emotions. In addition, they found that people who tend to envy others on Facebook were more likely to experience a negative impact (and a positive impact from avoiding it).

What’s the antidote for the toxin of envy? Abstaining from Facebook probably helps. But gratitude is the corresponding cardinal virtue to the deadly sin of envy. Where envy twists us into a knot, gratitude relaxes us into a smile. While envy makes us grind out teeth gratitude brings thanks to our lips. Both envy and gratitude prompt us to ask “why?” but envy asks with a shaking fist while gratitude asks with upturned palms of praise. The next time you catch envy creeping into your brain hold up a detour sign and send your thoughts on a different path toward gratitude. As the old hymn suggests “Count your many blessings. Name them one by one. Count your many blessings see what God has done.” Gratitude will elbow out your feelings of envy and brighten your outlook on life. Even if you haven’t served as President.