6/13/2018 1:49:18 PM
The End of Jealousy
Jealousy...
That horrible destroyer of relationships and, yes, even faith. Jealousy is often at the heart of so much sin.
As believers, jealousy can undo us. Even in congregations of Jesus Christ, jealously can prevail. Do you ever look to the ministries carried out at another Christian church and wonder: “If only, if only”? Do we wonder why we can’t be successful like those “other” Christians? When we begin to compare ourselves like that, the good purpose of maybe finding out something useful, quickly leads to jealousy. We begin to hate and despise what Christ has done among us. We begin to wonder why Christ is withholding his blessings. And we accuse Christ of mistreating us.
Stop all of this! Because if we go down that road then we are headed straight for rejecting Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. This is the poison of Satan that is being planted among us already. It begins as fear, impatience and disharmony. And if we drink this poison, we drink eternal death. Let’s repent. Forget all that, and be refreshed by Christ, your savior.
Now is not the time for feeble hearts and feeble minds. Now is the time to look up and see Christ’s bright light breaking through the clouds of dark despair. Now is the time to remember that Christ has made us one family. We don’t belong to Satan anymore. Christ broke in to his house, tied him up with the beams of the cross and crushed him under the weight of the stone that covered the tomb. Christ’s death took away Satan’s control. Christ’s resurrection took away guilt which kept us in darkness. And Christ freed us from slavery to sin, slavery to jealousy, slavery to fear. Christ stole us away from all that and Satan can’t control you anymore because he is tied up and helpless.
So let’s put away all the fear. Let’s not look with envy on the work of Christ elsewhere. Fix your eyes on how Christ has brought you into his family. Remember how he stole you from Satan. This is the work that Christ is doing and will continue to do among us. And when we are committed to seeing this and nothing else, then we will stand firm against any difficulty. And we will not just stand firm, but we will triumph!