Jealousy

Our hope and prayer is that your interaction with the rest of the human race this week has been relatively reasonable without the wicked human sin of Jealousy.  Let’s talk about that…

Proverbs 6:34 “For Jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.”  KJV

JEALOUSY:   feeling or showing envy of someone or their achievements and advantages.  feeling or showing suspicion of someone’s unfaithfulness in a relationship.  fiercely protective or vigilant of one’s rights or possessions.  (of God) demanding faithfulness and exclusive worship.

Jealousy is particularly pervasive in our society currently.  Being Jealous is not only about young love and the threat of possible rivals.  By our definition, Jealousy is the outward display of the inner bitter root of Envy.  I would submit today that Jealousy is conceived in a couple of conditions. 

If we have experienced the barbs of Jealousy we can agree that selfishness is definitely a seed.  I remember when Adelyn was in Kindergarten, she had a little friend who seemed so sweet and they hit it off famously.  Addy has always been quick to make friends and as Kindergarten went on she would meet other little girls which made the first little girl very jealous.  She would say, if you are going to be friends with me you cannot be friends with them.  Selfish.  Amazingly, when the first little girl decided SHE wanted to play with someone else she would tell Addy she had a new friend and Addy was NOT her friend anymore.  We have always advised our girls that we have to learn to be a good friend and jealousy destroys our ability to be a good friend.

In-Security is another attribute of Jealousy.  When we feel like we do not measure up we may display Jealousy in a way that tears others down through hurtful language  of gossip, sarcasm and lying.  The worst is probably the cold shoulder.  The other person may have no idea what is the matter and when they might ask the answer is Nothing!  Lie.  Then the answer might be short and curt.  Hurtful.  The Jealous one may use passive-aggressive language to hurt the other persons feelings.  Sarcasm.  All these signs are easy to spot if you are the recipient but not easily admitted if you are the one delivering them to your ‘friend’.  

Make a point to ask the Holy Spirit to point out and eliminate the hurtful sin of Jealousy in your own life.

God Bless You!

BroAdamB