Spiritual Warfare #8

The Landmines of Jealousy and Envy by Charles Stanley
Whenever you sense feelings of envy and jealousy growing, you must answer two questions: How will I respond to the jealous feelings, and how will I deal with my actions, which usually include feelings of anger? Before launching a full-blown assault on the person you believe is your offender, you need to remember Satan's primary goal: shift your focus away from God and onto your circumstances.

You may feel forgotten in a relationship, on your job, or even in your church, but He will never overlook you.

Detonating the Landmine of Jealousy
If you only see your life in light of what you don't have when compared to someone else, you will never learn to enjoy what God has given you.

You may be thinking, Doesn't God say He is jealous for us? The answer is yes, but it is a different type of jealousy; it is not the kind of jealousy that leads to envy and sin. It is a protective jealousy that is much greater than a loving parent would have for a son or daughter.

If we do not receive what we think we should, we become jealous, and in doing so we overlook God's goodness and holiness. We sidestep His love and miss a wonderful opportunity for a deeper relationship with Him.

Learning to live apart from jealousy may seem hard to do, but it is not. To accomplish this we must come to a point where we realize that partial obedience is not obedience. In other words, you cannot be kind to a person in her presence and then behind her back spew out words of jealousy and envy against her.

He [God] tells us it [jealousy] is wrong because He knows it divides our minds and creates an atmosphere of resentment in our hearts.

In a very real way, the various landmines mentioned in this book are connected. Often one explosion can lead to another. Jealousy can create an atmosphere of anxiety and fear within our hearts.

The flow will go something like this: jealousy leads to envy and envy to anger and anger to fear. The cycle will continue until we become paralyzed or until we turn to God and ask for His intervention.

Anyone who trusts God for the future should never be threatened by the blessings given to another person.

Jealousy is a Matter of Choice
Everything - learning to obey God starts with a heart that is turned toward Him. Anything that threatens to erode our relationship with God should be avoided at all costs.

Tomorrow we'll look at Winning the Struggle of Jealousy. It's important to note a few of the things quoted in this chapter so far. The first is that partial obedience isn't obedience. The second is that one landmine can lead to another in a chain reaction. That's why it's so important to check our hearts as soon as we feel a negative feeling coming over us towards another person. I've seen this particular landmine start in insecurity and lead to gossip and the exclusion of others. Insecurity will be covered in Chapter 5. Some of the other topics we'll cover are Compromise, Unforgiveness, Disappointment, Fear, Immorality, and Slothfulness (laziness). Should be a fun ride!