How does Jealousy affect the body of Christ?
Jealousy is one of my fundamental sins. It is tied to vanity, but is also a major enabler of vanity, so I thought I'd see how God looks upon jealousy and how jealousy, and acting on its earthly impusle, would affect my ability to serve Christ in building the kingdom.

A Song against envy

That light
which would brighten such
distant haze
was not my own
but came from another
let it filll
the lucid eye
with joy
the same
as if it came
from my own flame


Jealousy in the bible- It is such an important sin that God listed it as the 6th commandment:
Exodus 20:17  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

In Proverbs, Solomen describes a harmonious person and contrasts them against the unharmonious one.
Proverbs 14:30  ¶A quiet mind is the life of the body, but envy is a disease in the bones.

Envy, or jealouusy, is a fundamental sin that will rot the core of the person, the bones.,

Here are five verses that place jealousy on par with the worst of sins. In Mark, jealousy is on par with adultry and treachery, amongst others:
Mark 7:22  adultery, greed, all kinds of evil things, treachery, sensuality, jealousy, slander, bragging, foolishness.

In Acts, a person recognized as being filled with jealousy is called "bound by sin"
Acts 8:23  I can see that you are full of bitter jealousy and bound by sin."

In Romans, jealousy is mentioned in the same breath as murder, the supreme sin by human standards.
Romans 1:29  They are filled with all kinds of wrong, with evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, tricks, malice, gossiping,

In Romans Chapter 13, Paul talks of right living "like people do during the daytime", contrasted with the lifestyle of the sinner, which, once again, includes jealousy.
Romans 13:13  We should live properly, like people do during the daytime, not with orgies or by getting drunk, not committing sexual sin or having wild sex parties, not with fighting or jealousy.

We are chraged with living as Christ lives, and not as the world lives. In Corinthians, the ecclesia of Corinth is accused of being jealous of one another, of being 'worldly' because of it.
1 Corinthians 3:3  You are still worldly. There is jealousy and arguing among you. Are you not worldly then? You are living like sinful people, aren't you?

We are instructed with the great commmandmment, to love one another as brothers and sisters. To love, one must be loving. To be a loving person, you cannout live in jealousy, as Corinthians chapter 13 illustrates.
1 Corinthians 13:4  A loving person is patient; is kind; is not jealous; is not boastful; is not proud;

Jealousy leads to 'words against God' and evil thoughts, according to Timothy 6:4
1 Timothy 6:4  he is boastful. He doesn't understand anything; he is sick. He likes arguments and fights about words. Jealousy, fighting, words against God, and evil thoughts occur.

This is reiterated in James:
James 3:16  And if there is jealousy and selfishness, then confusion and every other kind of evil will be present, too.

Jealousy is coupled with fighting again and again. In Galations, the nature of jealousy as a divider is spelled out clearly"
Galatians 5:20  worshiping false gods, practicing witchcraft, hating people, making trouble, being jealous, becoming too angry, being selfish, making people angry with each other, causing divisions,

Jealousy, then, is a fundamental sin to God. Why else would it be listed specifically as the 6th commandment? Jealousy is found coupled with murder, treason, adultery, and other fundamentally ungodly sins. It is the sower of discontent. A family of jealous people cannot long work in common concord with one another. And finally, Jealousy is a major gateway sin to other base sins, and even leads to outright rebellion against God himself. A Christian leader who is preparing to serve God cannot live in jealousy, else he or she will be swept into evil thoughts and sow the seeds of discontent and division that will allow Satan to enter in and destroy what was once a Godly ministry, family, mission.

The verse that serves as a shield against the urge to be jealous is
Proverbs 14:30  ¶A quiet mind is the life of the body, but envy is a disease in the bones.
The body, here, in my mind, is the body of Christ, and envy, or jealousy, is the fundamental rot that undoes the body. If I am to fully serve Christ in rebuilding the kingdom, I cannot give an open gate to Satan by acting on my impulse to jealousy. My motivation comes from my desire to serve fullly in the body of Christ. My shield is Proverbs 14:30- A quiet mind is the life of the body, but envy is a disease in the bones.

A Prayrer:

Lord,
Let me fulfill your willl in my life. Let me be the vessel that sails to ports of your choosing. Let not my course be roiled by the bony finger of a jealous thought. Give me strength through the Holy Spirit you grant to me as your disciple to blot out the jealous blight that threatens to eat God's love within me, that opens the bulkheads to Satan's dark seas. Let me be quiet and filled with faith in your navigation and not take up the helm in the course of an envious direction. In Jesus' name I pray- Amen

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Replies

  • It's a matter of sematics, but I see a fundamental difference between jealousy and envy. God refers to Himself as a "jealous God." He holds tightly to His children; He doesn't want to lose any of them. I believe that's a righteous jealously just as Jesus exemplified 'righteous indignation' (anger with a cause). It's when jealousy goes too far that it becomes unhealthy and eventually becomes sin.

    On the other hand, envy is always wrong. When we covet something, it's not that we're afraid of losing what we have but of desiring something that belongs to someone else. People spend enormous amounts of money on themselves so others will envy them. And why do they do this? Isn't it because they envy others who have what they want so they pay to get it for themselves. Some people steal what others have because they envy it so much. I think envy is the greater sin - that it is 'jealousy gone wild.'

    In my opinion, that's the short of it. Ginger
  • Really nice Bible Study!
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