Envy Rots the Bones

Grandma Was Shrinking From Osteoporosis

Growing up, a holiday ritual in our home was to line all the children up against the doorframe of the dining room and mark how much taller they were since that same time the year before. My grandmother was always impressed by how tall we were getting and I can remember how proud I was the day my mark was higher on the doorframe than her mark.

The next year we noticed her mark was even lower than it was the year before and we all giggled because grandma was shrinking. We laughed, but it was not funny to her. The next year she refused to stand in the doorframe to be marked and instead she made the comment that the reason her mark was lower was because our old house was settling.

What actually was happening is she was suffering from osteoporosis. For her funeral service years later, we put together a picture loop of her life and it was stunning to see how tall she was in her earlier years. Gravity takes its toll on us as we get older and normal aging includes some bone and stature loss.

Good Bone Health is Matter of Life Or Death

It says in Ecclesiastes 12:1-7, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them…’ …when the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men stoop…” This passage is an elaborate metaphor describing the aging process and in this verse, in particular, it describes how those who once stood strong and tall, now stoop.

To oversimplify, we leave this world as we come into the world – fragile. Our bones provide the framework for the body as wood gives structure to a house. Over the years, wood naturally breaks down and begins to sag and settle. However, there are things that can speed up this breakdown, things like termites, dry rot, and exposure to water and weather. In similar fashion, this thinning of bone tissue and loss of bone density that we call osteoporosis is a disease that speeds up the break down of our bones. This issue of Home Cures That Work is full of natural health remedies that will help slow down and stop osteoporosis, as well as strengthen your bones. My concern is always that we only treat symptoms and never address root causes, many of which are spiritual in nature.

My mother died of multiple myeloma. Six years after a lung transplant and taking maximum doses of anti-rejection medicines, her kidneys ceased to function properly and her bones stopped producing blood. It was remarkable to me at that time realizing how important the bones are to life. The heart may seem most important but, in fact, the bones manufacture the blood, which is the life of the body. The Bible says, “The life of every creature is its blood.” (Leviticus 17:14) When we understand the spiritual reality of the life being in the blood and the fact that bones make blood, good bone health becomes a matter of life or death.

Disdain for Others Attacks YOUR Bones

Proverbs 14:30 tells us, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” Each month the aim of this column is to uncover some of the root causes of physical ailments. There is no doubt we are spiritual beings as well as physical beings and it is almost universally known that the physical and spiritual are very interrelated and interdependent. Things that eat away at us spiritually and emotionally eventually eat away at us physically. With that as a basis, this verse lists envy and jealousy as a root cause for osteoporosis.

Envy is a measure of displeasure or uneasiness at the success of others. Another definition is that envy is the painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another. We all struggle with envy at various times in our lives.

My grandmother was an early widow. For years her only son and his family lived several states away. There is no way I can determine if or how much she was dealing with envy in her heart. What I do know is that all her friends had companions, kids and grandkids in the same town. Yet, she was alone. Not knowing for sure, my point is merely to illustrate how easily envy creeps in. When envy is allowed to develop in our hearts, and according to the Bible, the physical manifestation is evident in how it eats away at our bones.

Thankfulness Brings Healing to Your Bones

Proverbs 17:22 says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” A crushed spirit describes a person who has been broken down by the weight of life’s disappointments. When others have enjoyments that have been elusive to us, envy can rear its head in our hearts. A grateful and glad heart is the opposite of an envious heart.

Disappointments depress us emotionally and it’s more than a cliché that we can appear as if we have the weight of the world on our shoulders. Those who struggle with severe osteoporosis literally break their backs easily and deal with the pain of compression fractures. The point of this article is that emotional weight is often to blame.

Proverbs 16:24 says, “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”  Some translations say gracious words or grateful words are like honeycomb.  Honeycomb is a Biblical metaphor for a structure that supports the sweet things of life. Thanking God for what we do have is the antidote to envy and brings healing to the bones.

Thankfulness is best when expressed vocally and creatively.  Tell someone what you are grateful for and create a way to celebrate your appreciation!