Jealous… Suspicious that we do not enjoy the affection or respect of others, or that another is more loved and respected than ourselves….
Ouch.
Seems to me that jealousy and security are mutually exclusive. That security must be in both the relationship with other individuals, and within.
I’m secure in my marriage relationship. I have no cause for jealousy, no threat of someone else being more loved than I am. I am loved.
I’ve become secure in my relationship with God. I have come to believe that he really and truly does love me, and that He will do what He says He will do….grant me the right-standing of Christ and an eternal life. I don’t need to be jealous in that relationship, because His love for you does not diminish His love for me in the slightest degree.
But I realize this morning that I am not innocent. There are areas of my life that are tainted with insecurity and jealousy. Even worse, I fear I may incite a little jealousy in others given the opportunity.
Joseph may have been guilty of such. Gen 37 tells the story. It’s worth your time to read it. Joseph was a love child, born to a man of many years. Israel/Jacob might have been wiser in his doting on the boy. Giving him a brightly colored coat to wear only displayed his favoritism to his other sons.
Everyone wore a garment like that, it was used for warmth, to sit on, to bundle things up in, or even as a security for a loan. But robes were plain. Except for the rich and famous…. Royalty.
Young Joseph’s father gave him the robe of royalty, and young Joseph wore it. Perhaps pridefully….maybe even for the purpose of inciting jealousy.
Or…maybe Joseph thought everybody loved him like his father did. He was young and unwise to flaunt what he had been given. And even more unwise in sharing his dream about being bowed down to by his big brothers. They took the opportunity to rid themselves of him when a caravan of slave traders came by.
This story is full of lessons for us. When I look into the character of each of the individuals involved, I see myself.
Are you there?
Father, I confess the jealousy in my heart. Thank You for revealing areas of sin, and Your cleansing from them. Thank You for the help and power You provide, that I may live a victorious life, free from the strong holding power of the sin of jealousy. (Gal.5:20)
