Jealousy

Happy Sunday!

Are you jealous?  I'll give you a moment to consider this question.  Merriam-Webster defines Jealousy as "an unhappy or angry feeling of wanting to have what someone else has".  Solomon wrote that, "Jealousy is as cruel as the grave".(Song of Solomon 8:6, KJV).  I won't rush you, I understand.  I needed time for sincere introspection as well.

Dr. Matthew L. Stevenson III preached about Jealousy today in the 8 am service.  Not the topic you might expect to hear in church on Sunday, but totally appropriate. He wasn't pointing a finger at the world, he was begging us to look inside.  Jealousy is rooted in insecurity.  If we are honest, insecurity is everywhere.  She's tall, I'm short...he's slim, I'm fat...they have a PhD, I have a GED.  We're all too familiar with it...Mommy loved him better, Daddy calls her his favorite.  It's not new, you remember the many Bible stories about jealousy, and the resulting envy, and murder they cause.  The Apostle James warned us, "For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work."(KJV).  Don't miss this!  This is serious. We must examine ourselves, repent, and allow the Holy Spirit to heal us.

Comparison Kills.  The Apostle Paul wrote, "For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.”  Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present.  Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding."(2 Corinthians 10:10-12, ESV).  Don't miss this!  He called comparing yourself to others...foolish, stupid, and unwise!  Don't do it!

You are Unique!  No one is exactly like you, and God intended it to be this way.  Romans 12:2 says, "Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."(Message).

Love and prayers, Cynthia