Overcome Jealousy with Good

“You long for something you don’t have, so you commit murder. You are jealous for something you can’t get, so you struggle and fight. You don’t have because you don’t ask. – James 4:2

Are you struggling with feelings of jealousy or envy in your heart? You feel like God has passed you over and blessed someone else who seem to you like they aren’t living right but they continue to thrive. Such feelings of jealousy are common in life, but that doesn’t mean we have to yield to such feelings.

In the Bible [Luke 5:27-30], we come across a man by the name Levi. As Jesus was walking by, He saw Levi the tax collector sitting at the tax office and asked Levi to follow Him. Later, Levi gave Jesus a great feast in his house to which he also invited other tax collectors who were his friends. However, when the scribes and Pharisees saw this, they complained saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Many times we have witnessed God blessing other people whom we feel like they shouldn’t be getting any blessing from God or at least not before us. And since we have opened the door to jealousy, we begin to question God in our hearts. “Why do they get the promotion and yet I am the one who’s been working hard? Why do they get the blessings and yet I am the one who’s been faithful all the time? Why does she get everything that I pray for, and yet I still get nothing?” Very often we act in similar manner to how the scribes and Pharisees did when they saw Jesus being good and enjoying the company the tax collectors.

Jealousy blindfolds us from seeing and counting our own blessings, it only invites hatred into our hearts. This is exactly what happens when we become jealous of other people. We count other people’s blessings instead of our own. And because there is envy in our hearts, we become so judgmental of other people’s blessings. “If I had that promotion, I would do better job than him. If I had her child, I would love the child more than the parent. If I had his money, I would spend it well. If I had her husband/boyfriend, I would cherish and love him more.”  Proverbs 6:34 says, “Jealousy makes a man rage; he’ll show no mercy on his day of revenge.” Do not let jealousy sneak up on you, and store strife in your heart.

So, what is the antidote for jealousy? Paul writes in Roman 12:21 “Don’t be defeated by evil, but defeat evil with good.” Instead of feeling jealous of other people, why don’t you be happy for them? When you see God blessing your neighbor, be joyful that God is in the neighborhood instead of being jealous of them. Even though you have prayed for certain things in your life and you haven’t received them yet, do not be discouraged and be trapped by jealousy. God hasn’t forgotten about you, your blessings are on the way. Rejoice for those whom God has chosen to bless. When your time for blessings comes, you would also want them to rejoice with you. So, let go of that evil mentality and rise higher. This is only a test for you, be of good attitude and pass the test.

Let us not be like the Pharisees and scribes, who got jealous when Jesus chose Levi the tax collector to be His disciple and when He dined with him. I pray that we may be of good attitude and overcome evil with good. It is the only way we can overcome the hatred, jealousy, strife and the spirit of revenge in our hearts. And whatever you pray to God let your motives be right. “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”- James 4:3. Be Blessed!

“You long for something you don’t have, so you commit murder. You are jealous for something you can’t get, so you struggle and fight. You don’t have because you don’t ask. – James 4:2