Jealousy: September 6, 2010

Today's Word for Monday September 6, 2010

JEALOUSY

DEFINITION

A state or mood; resentful and envious; inclined to suspicious fears or envious resentment; watchful in guarding something.

SCRIPTURE

"They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy [jealousy], murder, strife, deceit and malice." Romans 1:29.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

In the above verse from Romans, Paul is describing the sinfulness of fallen mankind. Right at the top of his list is envy or jealousy. Jealousy is often the root of deceit, malice, strife and even murder.

Jealousy led Cain to slay his brother Abel. Jealousy caused Joseph's older brothers to sell Joseph into slavery in Egypt. Jealousy caused Saul to try to kill David. Jealousy caused the Jewish chief priests to want to have the Romans crucify Jesus.

Jealousy is Satan's tool to draw us away from God. We cannot be faithful to God and serve Him if we have jealousy in our heart. Jealousy is part of our sinful nature and if we continue to envy and be jealous we are then slaves to our sin. Romans 6:16 says this: "You are slaves to whom you obey, whether you are slaves to sin which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness." Do not let jealousy lead you in the wrong direction.

Jealousy is a sin that cannot be hidden and cannot be tolerated. We have mentioned so many times in these daily devotionals that these "WORDS" we refer to daily are dramatically affected by choices we make in life. Some of us make choices based on how the world looks at things. Others make choices based on what the Bible teaches us. And some make choices based on advice, both good and bad, given to us by friends and family. But choices that come out of jealousy are always destructive.

Jealousy is a difficult emotion to control and comes upon us very quickly and often over minor things. We have seen one family member jealous of another family member because they received something that the other did not. We have also seen success bring on jealousy from others. Jealousy is a mood feeling that one develops when one feels slighted and cannot accept that someone has more of something than they have. Jealousy leads to resentment and bitterness. A bitter person can never be happy. Nothing good can ever come from jealousy. James tells us in James 3:16, "For where you have envy (jealousy) and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice."

LEARNING

Our memory verse for this week is found in John 1:46.

And Nathaniel said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."

PRAYER

Keep me from being jealous of others who may be more successful or may have more than I do. Make me thankful for all that You have given me so others may see Christ in me. Help me to realize what abilities You have given me and may I rejoice in them. May I be known today as a person that is committed to You in all that I do and in all that I say.