Jealousy and Its Close Relativesby Dale Harcombe | More from this Blogger 24 Jul 2008 09:23 PM Jealousy is an extremely destructive emotion that often leads to other sins. The Bible recounts a number of incidents of jealousy. Here are a few from the Old Testament. Rachel was jealous of Leah because her sister had children by Jacob and she did not, Genesis 30:1. Joseph's brothers were jealous because Joseph was the favored son of his father, Genesis 37:11. Saul was jealous of David for the praise and popularity he had with the people, 1 Samuel 18:7-9, 16. David's prosperity because God was with him and not Saul, 1 Samuel 18:14-15 provided another reason for Saul's jealousy, making him afraid that David would take over the kingdom, 1 Samuel 18:28-29. Jealousy is also evident in the New Testament. The high priest and the Sadducees saw what was happening with the apostles as their numbers grew and crowds came to them bringing their sick to who were healed, and they became jealous, Acts 5:14-17. The Jews saw the crowd assembling to listen to Paul expound the word of God and they became jealous Acts 13:44-45, and again in Acts 17:4-5 the Jews showed their jealousy of Paul and Silas as people were added to the believers. Jealousy reared its ugly head in the Corinthian church 1 Corinthians 3:3. Paul listed jealousy as one of the deeds of the flesh in Galatians 5:18-21 and therefore opposed to the fruit of the spirit, Galatians 5:21-23. As well as these examples there are probably many others I haven't mentioned. Covetousness is only another form of jealousy - that of wanting what the other person has. And the bible commands against it, Exodus 20:17, Deuteronomy 5:21, 7:25, Micah 2:2, Romans 13:9, and James 4:2. Envy is another close relative of jealousy and covetousness. We we are told it is consistent with those who are against God, Romans 1:29, and is a sin believers are warned against, James 3:14,16 As well as on our spirits, envy can have a detrimental effect on our bodies, Proverbs 14:30 NIV. Envy or jealousy has no place in love 1 Corinthians 13:4. It should have no place in the lives of God's children. Tomorrow we will look at ways to combat jealousy. All Bible verses taken from The New American Standard Version with the exception of Proverbs 14:30 which is from The New International Version. Please visit these related blogs Marriage tips:jealousy is not a positive sign in a relationship Learn more about Dale Harcombe  Dale has a passion for books and writing. She writes in various forms, from articles to poetry to fiction for children and adults. Relevantchristian tags User Comments No comments on this article yet. Be the first to comment! Community Tags attitudes, envy, jealousy, Old Testament, Sin Discuss this article
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