Acts 13:45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying.

Jealousy has got to be one of the least beneficial emotions in the human repertoire. I see it as a corruption of what God feels when He knows we should worship nothing but Him, and it’s right up there with resentment as an emotional time-and-energy waster. It hits practically everyone at times, and there’s often no real rational explanation for it. It makes us do things for which we would normally be ashamed, to the point of motivating countless “crimes of passion” down through the centuries. We forget that “every good and perfect gift is from above,” (James 1:17) and so demand satisfaction from human beings who can’t give it, unless God chooses to so use them. Jealousy has always been a prime motive for religious persecution, though those doing the persecuting would not admit it. We get caught up in numbers, of people and of finances, and lose sight of the God we say we serve. John the Baptist is our best example in avoiding such jealousy, when he said of Jesus, “He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30) Theology is most often used to justify conflict within the Church, but the underlying motive is more often jealousy.

I can hardly say I am immune to jealousy myself, yet I see so much damage done by it in the Body of Christ. I am not to run around pointing fingers at instances of jealousy, but I am to be on my guard against those who condemn others simply because they seem to be popular or successful. The other side of that, of course, is not to think someone is in the right simply because they are popular or successful. I need to let the Bible permeate my thinking and the Holy Spirit guide my perceptions, being slow to condemn or accuse and always speaking the truth in love.

Father, yet again I have prescribed a course that is beyond my human ability. I ask You to guard and guide me, so that my words and actions will reflect Your heart rather than anything less. Help me be an open channel of Your grace and love to all, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!