Jealousy: Danger. Danger. Danger.
A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.” – Robert A. Heinlein

Just being realistic, we would all have to admit that we’ve experienced our own share of jealousy. When someone else has more, looks better, or has it easier than we do, our natural human response is to get, well, a little jealous. As far back as I can remember, I have dealt with jealousy. I’ve also noticed that as insecurity is overcome in my life, my tendency to feel jealous of others has faded as well. There is such freedom in jealousy’s absence. This byproduct of insecurity is crippling and corrupting. In the very beginning, insecurity infiltrated humanity when Adam and Eve fell, and by the next generation, it had produced jealousy, and jealousy, murder. Here’s a bit of the story of Cain and Abel:

Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. – Genesis 4:1-8

Cain was jealous of God’s favor on Abel. Abel’s offering was costly and precious, because it was from the firstborn of his flock. He gave his best. On the other hand, Cain’s offering was not pleasing to God. This shows that Cain’s heart was already not in the right place. Then, when he became jealous of Abel, his jealousy overtook him and he murdered his own brother. Notice ow quickly insecurity developed into such evil. That is because insecurity, although disguised as harmless, is rooted in evil.

There is a commonly known quote that says, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”   This is particularly true of jealousy. It is safe to say that jealousy is a quintessential sin. The more power it has over one’s life, the more evil that person potentially will become. That is why the scripture says that jealousy has no place in the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the very nature of Satan, the igniter of the pride that became his fall, and the motive behind the havoc he is wreaking on the earth. Needless to say, this is something that we have to repent of and do away with.