Jealousy: April 11, 2013

Today's Word for Thursday April 11, 2013

JEALOUSY

DEFINITION: 

Feelings of envy or bitterness; apprehension of the loss of another’s affection; inclined to suspicious fears or envious resentment; watchful in guarding something.

SCRIPTURE:

For love is as strong as death, jealousy is as cruel as the grave. Song of Solomon 8:6.

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 sinful condition 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 seek to have the Romans crucify Jesus.

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 sin and it grows and intensifies quickly if left unchecked and not dealt with early on. It will lead you into greater sin.

Jealousy is a sin that cannot be hidden and cannot be tolerated. We have mentioned so many times in these daily devotionals that our relationship with the Lord is 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. You can be sure that jealousy will lead to harmful choices with bad consequences.

We have seen one family member jealous of another family member because they received something that the other did not. Jealousy in a family is a dividing force.  We have also seen the success of one individual 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 and does not feel good about himself or herself.

In the Song of Solomon, it reads: Jealousy is as cruel as the grave. In other words in plain simple words --- Being jealous is cruel because it hurts us and makes us miserable.

The writer of Hebrews tell us to "be content with what you have because God has said, 'never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" Jealously leads to discontent. True contentment is in knowing and trusting in the Lord.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalm 81:1

Sing aloud unto God our strength: Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.

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.