It helps some to distinguish between "envy" and "jealousy." A person that is jealous ordinarily wants to completely possess the object. The person wants the focus of the jealousy completely without sharing with the one who seems to be succeeding.
Envy, as the second deadly sin, has one overt important characteristic--it has no normal referent. By that I mean one has to eat but to eat too much is "gluttony." To procreate requires lust but "lust" for its own sake is a deadly sin and so on and so on. Jealousy may be destructive but it is part of the human condition that mature people deal successfully with and without harm to others and its basis is "love" of the object which is a normal human experience.
Envy also has one covert, important characteristic--its goal is to destroy the envied object. You, or at least some, will deny this but look at history. Virtually every revolution and rebellion is based on "envy" with the idea of destroying the alleged, hated oppressor. Ditto for "envy" as a political motive. It may be ameliorated by law but taking wealth from others and giving it to you and others is a way of destroying the object -- rich people.
People use "envy" and "jealousy" interchangably. The Bible seems to do so as well although "covet" means more than jealousy in my way of thinking.
"Envy also has one covert, important characteristic--its goal is to destroy the envied object. "
Wrong. One envies not an object, but some desirable characteristic of that object [usually of a person or a group]. For example, one could envy somebody's good health, or net worth, or nice children - which is frequently expressed as "X envies Y his [characteristic Z]", and shortened to "X envies Y". X's envy is the X's desire to become [at least] the [self-perceived] equal to the envied Y in regard to the desirable [by X] characteristic Z [the definition of envy]. This is possible in 2 ways: acquiring or developing one's own desirable characteristic Z [good] or depriving Y of Y's Z [bad] - raising oneself up or bringing others down. The former is at the root of all that's good in humans. The latter is at the root of most bad things in human history.
People use "envy" and "jealousy" interchangably. The Bible seems to do so as well although "covet" means more than jealousy in my way of thinking. 
And how do we begin to covet?
Do we seek out things to covet?
FReepers.. make an effort to answer.
We begin by coveting what we see every day.