To be jealous is to feel or show an envious resentment of someone or their achievements, possessions, or perceived advantages. It’s often connected to coveting (yearning to possess something which belongs to someone else) and is closely connected to resentment.
James says, ‘What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.’ (James 4:1-3)
We are jealous when we are insecure, when we don’t fully trust God to look after us and provide for our needs. We are jealous when we live solely for the now and don’t keep the long view in sight. When we are truly sure that God loves us, cares for us, provides all we need and wants the best for us, we can let go of jealousy.
