WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD ... love is not jealous!

Bigger cars. Nicer homes. Dream vacations. Perfect marriages. Seems like we all know someone who is doing better than us, looks better than us and has more than us. Jealousy is a common struggle for many.

Oftentimes, jealousy is sparked when someone else upstages us and gets something that we want. Like that promotion at work! This can be a very painful thing for us, if we have selfish motives. A selfish person will fume in anger and think bad about the person who got the promotion, instead of congratulating them. If we are not careful, jealousy will slither in like a viper and destroy our heart, our motivation and our relationships.

In last weeks YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL, I polled the readers the following question: "What do you find yourself jealous of?" The top 3 answers were...

1. 50% of the readers said that they don't really get jealous.
2. 28% of those polled said that they are jealous of people who have money.
3. 14% voted and said that they are jealous of other peoples homes.

This poll reveals to me that we are indeed jealous of what others have or have attained. Jealousy is one of the strongest drives known to man. It actually comes from the word "zeal" and means to "burn with an intense fire." The scripture says this:

"Wrath is fierce and anger is flood, but who can stand before jealousy." (Prov. 27:4)

I have found that when jealousy rears its ugly head in my life, it is usually not with disconnected strangers. No, the temptation of jealousy is usually with those closest to me. The people I work with, people I run in circles with and those that live in my house. If we are not careful, jealousy can infect and destroy even our marriages!

Love is not selfish, therefore love is not jealous. If we put others first, there will be no room for jealousy to creep in. Jealousy CAN BE destroyed with love, humility and gratefulness. Be grateful for what God has blessed you with and rejoice with others with the grace God has bestowed upon them! In the end, all that matters anyway is the condition of our hearts!