HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div

It’s in the tightening of your chest, the bile in your throat, and the knot in your stomach. It flashes in lightning fast, infecting whatever happiness or hopes you feel. Every child knows it. Every adult knows it. It’s that fierce, familiar green monster – called Jealousy.

We envy someone else: their looks, their job, their family, their vacations, their skills, their money. And it’s something so overwhelmingly common that we tend to overlook it. We minimize its sinfulness and allow it to fester to our soul’s detriment.

In the church we hate, envy and at times try to scandal others for a position or title. What is more detrimental is getting others to see the lies that you are creating against one of God’s anointing. members are so convinced in their spirits that the things they are doing are right, but only in their eyes. At times when the challenge is too great, they walk away.  I want to refer you to the book of Numbers chapter 22 and verses 21 through 39. I pray that at the end of the day this act of jealousy will lead to repentance and the affected parties will f

We don’t like to put jealousy to death. Instead, we feed it. We tend to it. We give it life.

How to Put Jealousy to Death

But jealousy and envy are soul-enemies, and Scripture warns us against them over and over. We’re told that jealousy is a fruit of the flesh (Galatians 5:21), an antonym of love (1 Corinthians 13:4), a symptom of pride (1 Timothy 6:4), a catalyst for conflict (James 3:16), and a mark of unbelievers (Romans 1:29).

So what does killing jealousy actually look like? Ultimately, it’s identifying it as evil and then attacking it with the truth.

Here are four practical ways to do that.

1. Recognize jealousy as deception.

Recognizing jealousy is the hardest part of killing it. Our hearts are often drowning in envy, yet we don’t even realize it.

Begin paying attention to your thoughts and feelings and responses. When you see jealousy rearing its ugly, green head, recognize it as deceptive thinking. Jealousy pretends to be a friend. It wants to sympathetically vindicate your sinful feelings by fostering discontentment and self-pity. It seeks to convince you that someone else has the all-satisfying happiness you crave.

But it’s a lie. The thoughts motivating your envy are false and crippling – that house, money, vacation, job, kid, parent, or number on the scale will not fulfil you. In those moments, grasp for this lifeline of truth: Your hope isn’t found in your circumstances being “better;” it’s in the unchangeable work of Christ (Psalm 42:5).

2. Repent of idolatry.

At its root, jealousy is idolatry. We’re placing our satisfaction in something that’s not God, and we’re saying he’s not sufficient for us. Because of that, the only right response is to repent, turning from the poison of our envy and running to the throne room of grace. You need to go before the Throne of grace and repent and turn from your selfish ways and ask forgiveness. What bothers me most is when ministers and servants of our God find themselves in this situation and cannot get out of it. Yet they want to counsel others and point them to the true light. That too is a lie and people must be warned.

3. Confront jealousy with joy.

The lie of jealousy is, “If only things were like this, I would be happy.” But the truth is, the opposite happens, as jealousy feeds a deep, hungry dissatisfaction. Instead of confronting discontentment with jealousy, confront it with joy. Choose joy. Fight for joy. Instead of measuring your happiness against someone else’s success, root yourself in the incomparable truths of the gospel.

One thing that helps me to get past the act of jealousy is to work and that I do very hard to meet my needs and goals. All of my needs He promised to supply, but it does not come easy. I cannot sit back and depend on others to fill my cup or bread basket. I get up and out to work. Too many people are so jealous of your successes and the stay in their corner and mope over what others have but will not do anything for themselves. Always work is hard and have a family to feed. Counterattack jealousy by cultivating gratitude. Notice and savour the blessings all around you.

STOP compare your life to that of others and rejoice in the blessings God has given you. We are faced with these choices every day. Will we confront our jealousy with joy?

4. Count your blessings.

Counterattack jealousy by cultivating gratitude. Notice and savour the blessings all around you. The sunshine. Your pets. A delicious ice cream cone. Your church. Flowers. Flip flops. Transportation. God’s Word. Your family. Good books. There are small mercies around us 24/7 – but we need to be willing to pay attention.

And once we notice them, we ought to thank God for them. He is the gift-giver, the fount of all blessings, so we put jealousy to death by thanking him for beauty and goodness. Go to the supermarket and ask for a job, maybe that is what God wants you to do. Ask the neighbour to cut the lawn and you never know with that small blessing how far it can reach.

Jealousy Deserves Death – So Kill It Today

Like poisonous snakes or roaring fires, jealousy is too deadly to play with. Don’t pretend that jealousy is no big deal, that you need to focus your energy on fighting “bigger” sins. Jealousy is idolatry. It’s sin. Don’t just wound it, bruise it, suppress it, or maim it – kill it.

For jealousy is one of the sins Christ paid for on the cross, which means it deserves death. Jesus died for jealous people, and that’s good news for us because we are jealous people. So there is hope in Christ! Run to him, trust in him, rest in him, pursue satisfaction in him, and – by his Spirit – seek to kill jealousy today.