Jealousy and Envy

[abide]

These two evils have caused pain and tragedy in the lives of so many people. A husband kills wife because he is jealous of her friendship with her friends.

This footballer killed his girlfriend because he was jealous
http://news.sky.com/story/982204/footballer-admits-stabbing-girlfriend
(she was fifteen years old)

Why do people become jealous. If a person is assured of someone's love there is no need to be jealous. I believe fear is at the heart of jealousy.

Envy on the other hand is a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another's advantages, success, possessions, etc.


http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/envy


Envy and jealousy perhaps goes hand in hand.

For the Christian these two should never be a part of our lives...

 

[Jethro Bodine]

ALL sin is motivated by fear.

Jealousy and envy are the natural fleshly reactions to being afraid you're not getting, or are going to lose, that which you think is vital to your well being. It is these natural human defensive mechanisms that we are to put to death by the Spirit, trusting God to meet our needs and make sure we have what we need to be safe and comfortable in this life. The biggest cowards in this life are the ones who aggressively bully the rest of us with their envies and jealousies and other deeds of the flesh designed to keep us from depriving them of the good they demand for themselves. This is the very opposite of 'love your neighbor as yourself', and, "love does no harm to it's neighbor" (Romans 13:9).


Even though Peter is addressing wives in particular in this passage we can all learn from it and what he says about not giving way to fear:

"5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear." (1 Peter 3:5-6 NIV1984)

Fear for ourselves is what causes us to resort to the various deeds of the flesh (envy, jealousy, rebellion, arrogance, fits of rage, etc.) to manipulate and control people and circumstances in our favor. In this context he's speaking of wives and their relatiionship to their husbands, but it is equally applicable to all people in all relationships: Trust God instead of giving way to fear and resorting to the deeds of the flesh to get what we want and need.

In our natural selves, out of fear for own well being, we literally bully other people with the deeds of the flesh to ensure it goes well for us. But the godly person commits him/herself to God and puts there hope and trust in Him to provide and take care of us. Not very easy to do, and we all spend a lifetime learning to do that. All the while, those who don't belong to Christ are getting better and better at using the deeds of the flesh to take care of themselves.