Jealousy

JEALOUSY is the rage of one person against another (Prov. 6:34). It arises from pride, envy, and a deceitful heart. Husbands are needlessly jealous of their wives and wives of their husbands, because each fears his or her companion's love may be no more true than their own. We all fear in others those well hidden evils that we know reside in our own hearts. Pride tells us that we deserve what we see another enjoying. And that pride makes us burn with envy and jealousy. It is a rage that desires the ruin of its object. It cannot be kind. It cannot be forgiving. It cannot love. "Jealousy is cruel as the grave" (Song of Sol. 8:6). The person whose heart burns with jealousy is cruel to the one who is the object of his jealousy; but he is most cruel to himself. The jealous man, the jealous woman robs himself/herself of all joy and peace in life. The only jealousy in men that is good is jealousy for another, jealousy that seeks another's welfare (II Cor. 11:2). Jealousy of another, jealous that makes you envious and suspicious of and mean to another is worse than base humanity. It is devilish (I John 3:10-12).

Don Fortner