Envy is one of the sins forbidden by the Ten Commandments. It consists in a person's desire to possess what does not belong to them. The object of envy may be material wealth or intangible things such as beauty, success, virtue, and the like; see Ecclesiastes 4:4. The point is that trust in God means that everything a person has comes from God: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" (James 1:17). At the same time, it is important that God gives each person what that person needs according to God's design. Therefore, the desire to possess what God has given to another person is, by definition, contrary to the Creator's design. Envy also contains a person's striving to carry out their own will against the will of the Creator. This is why envy is destructive for a person: "A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot" (Proverbs 14:30). Envy becomes a cause of cruelty and violence among people: the envious person tries to obtain by force what does not belong to them (Micah 2:2). Thus envy, like much else, violates the law common to all people: love for one's neighbor (Romans 13:9).

In his letter to the Galatians, the apostle Paul includes envy among the "works of the flesh," which he contrasts with the fruits of the Spirit. In his letter to Timothy, the apostle also emphasizes that envy is not necessarily directed at material goods. A very important cause of envy is the desire for primacy and power. The clearest and most tragic example of envy is the envy of the Pharisees and scribes toward the Lord Jesus Christ, which led to the Savior's death on the Cross.