Of course, the tendency to envy is not limited to those who try to attain prominence and prosperity by dishonest methods. For example, hard work and efficiency are commendable. Yet a person may put great emphasis on these due to a tendency to envy. How so? Because he may be working hard, not simply to accomplish something worth while, but with a desire to outshine others in works, skill or productivity. Envy pushes him to reach what others have attained and, in fact, to surpass them. This aspect is acknowledged by the discerning writer of Ecclesiastes: “I myself have seen all the hard work and all the proficiency in work, that it means the rivalry of one toward another; this also is vanity and a striving after the wind.”​—Eccl. 4:4.

When a person’s motivation in work is tainted by self-glorification, any concern and sympathy on his part for others are often eclipsed. Their physical and mental limitations receive little or no consideration. Competition and rivalry replace a spirit of friendly cooperation. An unfair standard of judgment may be used so that mere quantity becomes the standard for comparing, leaving out consideration of quality or the sincere, unselfish effort that went into another’s work. The worth of a person may be judged primarily by what he can produce, rather than by what he himself is.

Certainly efforts to outshine others are injurious, and those putting forth such efforts are ‘striving after wind,’ after sheer emptiness. One who publicizes his achievements and compares himself with others stirs up competition and envy. By trying to impress others with his own superiority, he enviously refuses to acknowledge the good qualities others may possess. He jealously guards his position, fearing that others might become his equals and, perhaps, even surpass him. All such action is contrary to the Scriptural injunction given to Christians: “Let us not become egotistical, stirring up competition with one another, envying one another.”​—Gal. 5:26.

For example, hard work and efficiency are commendable. Yet a person may put great emphasis on these due to a tendency to envy. How so? Because he may be working hard, not simply to accomplish something worth while, but with a desire to outshine others in works, skill or productivity. Envy pushes him to reach what others have attained and, in fact, to surpass them. This aspect is acknowledged by the discerning writer of Ecclesiastes: “I myself have seen all the hard work and all the proficiency in work, that it means the rivalry of one toward another; this also is vanity and a striving after the wind.”​—Eccl. 4:4.