Flames of Jealousy

Saying jealousy is a strong emotion is like saying water will quench thirst. Solomon's Song of Songs describes jealousy as "unyielding as the grave. It burns like a blazing fire, like a mighty flame.” Even children use it to provoke anger or tears. Adults use it to try to reignite sagging interest in a relationship.

Jealousy can surface uninvited. A friend or colleague gets a promotion to a prestigious position. You smile, offer congratulations, but jealousy flows with a vengeance. To combat jealousy, force yourself to face the truth. Your colleague is better suited for the job. Her personality qualified her for the position.

As I accept the truth, the freer I become to let go of jealousy. When I pray sincerely for God to bless someone with success and make myself rejoice in their good fortune, the greater are my chances of finding inner peace. Warm, affectionate love and godly affirmations douse the flames of jealousy.  

Let It Go – Let God Repay

Jealousy interferes with the capacity to think logically, for its motives are wrong and sinful. Rachel desperately wanted children, so she gave her maidservant Bilhah to her husband Jacob as a surrogate wife to have children in her place. In the strictest sense, this was permissible according to the ethics of the day. Spiritually, it was not acceptable because anger and jealousy existed in Rachel’s heart for her sister Leah.

Rachel wanted to get even with Leah, so when Bilhah conceived and gave birth to two sons, Rachel proclaimed God had heard her plea. However, when jealousy is the motivating factor behind any behavior, God does not approve.

Jealousy overrules love and logic. If jealousy is occupying a place in your heart, let it go by asking God to bless the person that’s the object of the jealousy. This is how you turn it over to God. He emphatically states: "Vengeance is mine. I will repay." Believe God and trust Him.

Rich Rewards from the Golden Rule - Part 2

Every major religion has some form of the Golden Rule. Islam states: "No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself." Jesus commanded that we love our enemies and do good unto those who unjustly treat us. To do so is to put aside hate, anger, and fault-finding.

Robert Southey explains how he managed to develop values and comfort that have sustained him throughout his life. "In my youth I remembered my God, and now He has not forgotten me in my old age." When godly values are wrecked by the pursuit of a career, material goods, or anything imaginable, the Golden Rule must be reinstated in your life.

What's at issue is simply caring for others. Hudson Taylor provides this witness. "I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked that I might help him. I ended up by asking him to do his work through me." This attitude gave him a new direction and purpose.