Jealousy: November 1, 2016

  It was a Friday night and I still had not completed my lesson for Bright Lights on Tuesday. I only had a couple of days to complete it, and I was struggling. Jealousy has consistently been a hurdle I have had to overcome. I have always wrestled with thoughts of, "I wish I had this or that", or "If only I had (insert admirable quality)". So, as soon as I said I wanted to teach on jealousy I thought to myself, "Are you crazy!" Nevertheless, a couple weeks later,  I was sitting in front of my computer screen, wondering how in the world I was going to finish this. Then, it dawned on me. Did I pray? I realized that I could not write this lesson by my own strength, but I needed to rely on Jesus to give me the right words to say.

We discussed two definitions of jealousy...

#1 Jealousy: An unhappy or angry feeling of wanting to have what someone else has.

Here are a few verses we looked at referring to this type of jealousy.

James 3:14-15
14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

James 3:16
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice

#2 Jealousy: A strong feeling of possessiveness, often caused by the possibility that something which belongs, or ought to belong, to one is about to be taken away.

I talked about Exodus 34:14.
Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

We tackled how we are to deal with our jealousy-#1 definition.

We asked volunteers to act out Genesis 3:1-8. Somehow I ended up being the tree. Sophi was an amazing snake. Abbey was a wonderful Eve, and Reyna was a fantastic narrator. :)

I taught about Eve and how she looked at the fruit and desired something God had not given her. Ungratefulness started to grow in her heart.

We discussed a great way to battle envy/jealousy is by turning our thought life to Him. ( Colossians 3:2)
When we think thoughts that are bitter or ungrateful, our hearts tend to follow. I encouraged the girls to focus on Jesus and look for ways to serve Him better. A great way to do this is to memorize scripture. Here are a few verses that are pretty easy to memorize:

Proverbs 18:10
 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

1 Peter 5:7
 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Psalm 119:50
My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.

And my personal favorite - Micah 7:7.
But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

Another way to battle jealousy is to read God's word.
 I can’t emphasize this enough. God’s word is so important in a Christian’s life. It isn’t something that should be tossed aside, or considered an old book that has no meaning to our lives right now. Research. Ask questions. Dig deep in the word of God.  Read the boring books…read the exciting books. Write questions down and ask people’s opinions. I love reading the bible and then emailing a friend about his or her thoughts on the subject. I would encourage you to think about what your reading. I know that we all have responsibilities and school work, but the bible is more important. The bible I more important than our scripts, the bible is more important than our science books, the bible is more important than our sheet music. However, the Bible is not an excuse for laziness.

Conclusion:

When we look at others and desire what they have or what they have accomplished we seem to look at our own lives as less than. When we forget about Jesus and what He has done for us we forget we already have so much. If Jesus is our everything, our first love, our hope, we won’t desire earthly things.When Jesus is all whom we desire to imitate, that is when we find true joy.
How can we want riches that are eventually going to rot or become stolen? This world can offer nothing in comparison to the King of Kings! Now, some say it is foolish, but I think that the most foolish thing a person can do is look at our world and refuse to believe there is a creator. And when we realize all that Jesus went through to be our final sacrifice- how can we be jealous of others?