“JEALOUSY” – A DESTROYER OF THE FULFILLMENT OF LIVING AS A CHRISTIAN
BIBLE PASSAGE:
Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests
a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper
may be glad together.
(John 4:36)
MEDITATION:
“Jealousy” is an emotion, but not a very good one to have.
The word generally refers to the thoughts or feelings
of insecurity, fear, concern, and envy over the lack of
possessions, status, or something of great personal value.
It can include one or more emotions such as
anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgust.
We can see why the Lord
does not want jealousy to exist His followers.
It is an indicator that we have not allowed
the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ to permeate our being,
and we are still holding on to one ‘act of the flesh’.
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity
and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord,
JEALOUSY, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did
before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom
of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)
When we surrender to the Lord, we would like to think
that jealousy would disappear, but it, like other ‘old things’,
can hang around if we are not careful.
It is one of the many weapons used by Satan to destroy
our joy, our happiness, and our relationships with others.
Jealousy can be a silent killer of our
opportunities to show others that our faith is real
by the way we live (and in particular, our attitudes).
We may think our jealousy is disguised,
but others can still detect its existence in us.
Look at how the Jews were jealous of Paul when they saw
many people gathering to hear him share the ‘word of the Lord’.
On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear
the word of the Lord. When the Jews saw the crowds, they
were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul
was saying and heaped abuse on him. (Acts 13:44-45)
Their jealousy was manifested through their attempts
to discourage Paul, and cause problems for him while
he was obediently serving the Lord.
When they contradicted Paul,
they were also discrediting God’s Word.
And if that was not enough to satisfy them,
they ‘heaped abuse on him’ as well.
More than likely they were gossiping (probably including lies),
and pointing out every flaw they could find in him.
They may have even tried to convince others
to ignore him, due to his “pre-salvation” past
when he was persecuting the Christians.
Instead of enjoying how crowds gathered
to hear the word of the Lord, they allowed their
jealousy to take them in a direction that was pleasing to Satan.
ACTION:
Jesus tells us that we all have been given specific tasks
for contributing to His ministry of reaching the lost
(some are “sowers” and some are ‘reapers’ but we should
“be glad together” that we are a “team” of servants for the Lord).
You may have a desire to be a great orator of God’s Word,
or maybe you would like to have a great voice so you could
sing praises to the Lord as a way of pointing others to Him.
However, we have to remember to put aside our ‘wants’,
and use what God has given specifically to us for serving Him.
Sometimes God gives us a special talent, but He also gives us a
special spiritual gift – we should not assume our talent is our
spiritual gift and fail to discover what God has given us to use
in serving Him, encouraging other believers, and reaching the lost.
Rather than allowing Satan
to fill our mind with jealous thoughts, we should enjoy
watching others use the spiritual gift(s) God has given them.
When we do not, we fail to ‘be glad together’
with others who are serving Him.
Jealousy can become an emotional
cancer in us (if we allow it to remain).
And when it does remain, we can become
detrimental to, not only someone who is using their gift(s),
but also to the Lord’s effort of reaching those who are
destined to an eternity separated from Him.
Our own gift(s) may be less visible than others
whenever we are ‘sowing’ the seeds of salvation.
However, when those seeds are watered and
grow into a harvest of the lost, we can rejoice
in knowing that without the sowing of a seed,
there would be no reaping of the harvest.
Regardless of who is involved in the reaping
(which is ultimately the Lord), the harvest
confirms our faithfulness in sowing.
Instead of allowing jealousy to cause resentment in us
(directed toward others serving the Lord), we should be
thankful that the Lord values us enough to provide us
with a gift to use when participating as part of His ministry ‘team’.
Jealousy can cause us to be discouragers,
but absence of jealousy and envy can mold us
into people who enjoy encouraging others as they serve the Lord.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, forgive me for allowing jealousy
to prevent me from rejoicing with others who are
serving You. Help me to embrace and use the spiritual
gift You have given me, instead of focusing on other
gifts that I would like to have. Show me how to effectively
use what You have given me, and teach me how to encourage
others as they use what You have given them.”
BREAD FOR BELIEVERS 
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