Why?

"Why is it wrong to be jealous when God himself is a jealous God? Why is it a sin for us to feel this way when He himself is jealous?"

My little sister in the Lord asked me this question and I just thought what a great question? I love the minds of young people. We all go through various periods in life where we find ourselves asking why this or why that. I experience this when I'm reading various scriptures of the bible as I'm sure many people often do. Well I say, keep seeking to understand His will! I figured I'd share my response to her question with others.

As you know, the English language is complex. Depending on how we use a word in our sentences it can imply different meanings. In this case, jealousy is referring to God's anger towards us when we are unfaithful to him. How are we unfaithful to God? In biblical times the children of Israel would worship man-made Gods. Today, we put friends, parties and other things before God or in the place of God. This is the same type of anger that a boyfriend feels when we put other people or things before them. They feel we are being unfaithful to the relationship.

There is another type of jealousy that refers to feeling resentment against someone because of that person's rivalry, success, or advantages. This is wrong because the bible teaches us to put the welfare of others before our own. God does not feel resentment or rivalry because no one or anything can compare to his magnificence. He is the creator of everything.

Just the same, God created us as beautiful and unique individuals and he gave us each a purpose of our own to fulfill. When we get jealous about someone else’s blessing, we are also saying that what God has given us and has planned for us isn’t good enough.

Do you see how this is different? Just look up the definition of the word jealous and you will see that there are different meanings. That’s why deep study of the bible is important, so that we can fully understand what the word is trying to teach us. Keep growing and keep seeking knowledge and understanding.