Jealousy

Jealousy

Definition

Jealousy is a mental attitude or emotional sin which is characterized by resentment of another person’s accomplishments, recognition, attractiveness, or possessions, or by hostility towards someone else who is believed to be enjoying some advantage.

Jealousy is a common result of the sin of pride, or arrogance. Jealousy can be thought of a part of a collection or complex of sins which begin with pride.

A prideful attitude is the opposite of a grace attitude. A person who is filled with pride is blind to the grace of God. Pride makes a person think of himself with a lofty self-esteem that is far apart from reality, and has a source in some imagined or real superiority to others.

Prov. 14:30, “A sound heart is life to the body; but jealousy is rottenness to the bones.”

Jealousy is one of the strongest mental attitude sins.

Prov. 27:3,4, “A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty, but a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both. Wrath is cruel (fierce), and anger is outrageous, but who can stand before jealousy?”

Pride is synonymous with vanity, which is empty pride in regard to one’s person, attainments, or possessions, coupled with an excessive desire to be noticed, to be recognized, to receive approval or praise from others.

Jealousy, then, is the result of discontent with the blessings, successes, or possessions of other people, or of their attractiveness, or of the attention that they receive.

Jealousy also comes from the fear of losing another person’s friendship or love, a mood that is based on self-centeredness, that suspects that the other person’s love has been diverted to a rival.

Jealousy, then, brings about a frantic competition in love, business or professional life, social life, athletics, as well as in the religious life.

Scriptural Teaching on Jealousy

Jealousy is one result of false teaching.

1 Tim. 6:3,4, “If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and disputes of words, from which come jealousy, strife, railings, evil suspicions.”

James 3:14,16, But if you have bitter jealousy and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth, This wisdom descends not from above, but is earthly, sensual, demoniacal. For where jealousy and strife are, there is confusion and every evil work.”

When a person is jealous, he is contentious, and he tries to build up self. To do this, he must lie against Bible truth.

Jealousy rejects Bible teaching.

Acts 13:45,“But when the Jews [in Antioch of Pisidia] saw the multitudes [listening to Paul and Barnabas], they were filled with jealousy, and spoke against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.”

Acts 17:5, “But when the Jews [of Thessalonica] who believed not, moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city in an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.”

Jealousy motivates religious people.

Mark 15:9,10,”But Pilate answered them, saying, Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews? For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for jealousy.”

Joseph’s brothers were motivated by jealousy to sell him into slavery.

From Stephen’s speech: Acts 7:9, “And the patriarchs, moved with jealousy, sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him.”

Jealousy split the nation of Israel.

Isa. 11:13, “The jealousy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.”

Special offerings were made for jealousy in Israel.

Numbers 5:11-31

Jealousy destroys a persons capacity for personal love for a member of the opposite sex.

Song 8:6, “Set me a seal on your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave (Sheol); its coals are coals of fire, with a terrible flame.”

Jealousy is self-destructive.

Job 5:2, “For wrath kills the foolish man, and jealousy slays the silly one.”

Prov. 14:30, “A sound heart is life to the body; but jealousy is rottenness to the bones.”

Jealousy is the trigger for false motivation and discord.

Phil. 1:15-17, “Some, indeed preach Christ even of jealousy and strife; and some also of good will; the one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds; but the other, of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel.”

Here we have human good, a right action produced from a wrong motivation, jealousy. Arrogance creates this false motivation and competition. Pettiness is closely related to jealousy.

Application

Jealousy is a major function of self-righteousness and arrogance; therefore it is a major factor in Christian backsliding and degeneracy. Jealousy causes a Christian to develop a system of legalism or false spirituality, to set himself up as a role model for what Christianity should be, then to try to get others to accept their model of false self-identity.

While jealousy is part of the pride complex of sins, it generates its own suite of sinful reactions, including: bitterness, vindictiveness, implacability, ambition, competition, verbal sins, and revenge tactics.

Jealousy is a system of self-justification. You cannot solve your problems when you are trying to justify yourself.

The filling of the Holy Spirit cannot co-exist with jealousy; they are mutually excusive. Therefore, jealousy keeps a person from glorifying Christ.

Jealousy is a discontent with the blessings of successes of other people, a resentment of other people for what they have received. Therefore, it is total selfishness and is incapable of love. Love and jealousy are mutually exclusive.

Jealousy is tyranny, in that it comes from an attitude of possessiveness of another person, and therefore stifles the other person’s volition. Jealousy destroys freedom because it intrudes upon privacy.

The Solution to Jealousy

Occupation with Christ is the ultimate problem solving device regarding pride and jealousy. [Refer to the notes on Occupation with Christ}

Prov 8:11, “The respect for the Lord is to hate evil, to hate pride and pride and the evil way. And I hate a perverted mouth.”

Daily attention to the techniques of the Christian Way of Life will give you a grace mental attitude that becomes more and more free of jealousy as you grow in Christ and in the knowledge of His Word.