The Bible says, ‘Peace of mind means a healthy body but jealousy will rot your bones.’ If we allow jealousy to hold a place in our lives, it’ll eventually take over and consume us. It eats away at us and steals our joy. It invades our thoughts until we only see the things somebody else has that we want, leading to resentment and conflict. It stops us celebrating with others and sharing in their happiness when they achieve something. So we need to recognise jealousy as soon as it appears. Here’s a quick checklist to help: 1) Do you find it hard to compliment others on their achievements? 2) Do you ever feel a sliver of happiness because something bad has happened to someone else? 3) When you hear something complimentary about another person, do you feel the need to say, ‘Yes, but…’ and then point out something negative about them? 4) Do you keep comparing yourself to other people? 5) Do you pay a lot of attention to what other people are doing, buying, wearing, and who they mix with? 6) Do you trust the people you love, or are you always checking up on them? So how do we conquer jealousy? First, we need to acknowledge there’s a problem. Second, we need to tell God how we’re feeling and ask for His help. And third, we should pray for the person who is the target of our jealousy. It’ll feel awkward at first, but as we keep doing it, God will change our hearts and replace jealousy with love. When we’re secure in who we are before God, we don’t have to be jealous of anybody.

What Now?

If you thought ‘Yes’ or ‘Sometimes’ to any of the points in the checklist in today’s reading, make sure you begin to deal with those feelings today by telling God about them. And if any feelings of jealousy are directed at a particular person, make a commitment to pray for that person every day.