In order to serve in the body of Christ and bear good fruits, we must overcome the works of the flesh and let the spirit reign in us. Only God can help us do so by giving Him our all without holding back.
Galatians 5:19-22 gives a good contrast of the fruits of the flesh and those of the Holy Spirit.
Jealousy is one of the obstacles that believers should overcome completely in order to serve God. Jealous is the feeling of envy or covetousness of someone’s perceived achievements or possessions. When you are jealous, you begin to think that someone else is more advantaged than you are in a certain area and you are not happy about it. Why are we strongly warned against jealousy?
Genesis 4. The first death on earth occurred out of jealousy. Cain was envious of His brother Abel, whose sacrifice pleased God. Cain probably thought that by killing Abel, God would have no choice but to accept his offering. Unfortunately Cain ended up cursed. Instead of killing his brother, Cain should have sought after his brother to learn why his sacrifice had been accepted while his was rejected.
1KINGS: 21
Jezebel had Naboth killed so that her husband could acquire the beautiful vineyard owned by Naboth. Jezebel was an idol worshipper and had no reverence of the Almighty God. Jezebel also ended up curse and so was Ahab and His children.
Exodus 20:17
The 10th commandment warns against coveting you neigbhor’s property.
Jealousy is a tool that satan uses to distract Christians and he knows that it is very effective. Having been an angel of God, he was jealous of the power of God and wanted everything to himself. His jealousy saw him kicked out of the kingdom of heaven and now roams around bitterly on earth looking for believers to deceive.
When you let jealousy mislead you, you cease to see the wonderful things that God has done for you. Jealousy and malice work in tandem. When you are jealous of someone, you always find a way to bring them down. You may do this by speaking words that could hurt their reputation or sabotaging their effort in everything they do. Jealousy drags you back into sin and prevents you from growing spiritually.
Our gifts should work together for the good of the body of Christ. Caption this; the first four books of the New Testament all give an account of the life of Jesus Christ. While Matthew starts by proofing the lineage of Jesus, John starts by quoting the book of Genesis and sounds more like an eye-witness. All the writers gave an account of the life of Christ as lead by the spirit and in different styles. None of the writers is less than the other.
Equally, can your finger be jealous of the hair, or the hair jealous of the stomach? All the body organs work together, each created for a specific purpose. So are we in Christ. We focus on our purpose in Christ as we grow spiritually. The more we focus on him, he increases us even in material wealth. If we lose focus and begin to pull each other down, we inhibit growth.
Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
Jealousy corrupts the purity of heart. God blesses those who are pure in heart and uplifts them like he did with David.
Sometimes we miss God’s blessings simply because our hearts are filled with envy. If we take jealousy to the altar, we risk destruction of our own works.
Rejoice with other members of the body of Christ when they achieve great things. Mango trees and orange trees all bear fruits but in different seasons. When your season has come, you will bear fruits in plenty.
How, do we overcome jealousy?
As earlier stated, it’s only God that can help us overcome the spirit of jealousy through the Holy Spirit. It is important to read and meditate upon the word of God every day. This will help us renew our minds and re-align our thoughts with the will of God. The word of God is a seed. When we plant it in our hearts we need to cultivate and take care of it so that it grows and bears good fruits.
It is also important to practice the art of congratulating those who are ahead of you and those who achieve great things. The will of the devil is that he distracts you and blinding you with jealous. He knows too well that it is the nature of men to always want more and to be recognized. God wants us to have a spirit of contentment. Contentment does not mean that you are not focused. Instead it shows that you are happy with what you have as you wait for God to move you to the next level.
The greatest commandment of all is love. We are commanded to love our neigbors as we love ourselves. We cannot claim that we love God if we do not love those that are around us. Equally, we cannot claim to love God or our neighbors if we are jealous of what they have or what they have achieved. We must always see the good in others just as God sees us.
The fruits of the Holy Spirit work together in us to overcome the temptations of the flesh. We therefore must completely surrender to God and let the Holy Spirit take control so that we are able to overcome the temptations of the flesh. We are helpless on our own. Let us therefore, work to make sure that our minds remain conscious to sin, that we may strive to be just as Christ. Temptations will come but it is the will of our father that we are able to overcome.
As our Lord Jesus taught us to pray, “ lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from evil.” We trust God to deliver us from all evil and temptations for the glory if His name.S
Copyright 2021 ChristMindSet | All Rights Reserved.