Love Dare: Day 8
LOVE IS NOT JEALOUS
The root word of "jealous" is "zeal" which means "to burn with an intense fire.""Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before jealousy?" (Proverbs 27:4).
There are two sorts of jealousy- the first is legitimate and caused by love, the second is illegitimate and caused by envy. Example of the first one is a husband who feels a justified, jealous anger because his wife has an affair. He loves his wife a great deal and wants back what is rightfully his.
God has this kind of righteous jealousy for His people. It's not that He envies us and wishes He too has what we have- hello, He owns ALL of creation. It's because He longs for us, loves us so deeply way desires that we never forget that He is our first love. He doesn't want us to love anything more that Him.
Then there's the illegitimate jealousy that is borne of Envy, that green-eyed monster. It causes a bitterness to brew within when other people succeed more than you and get what you want.
We all struggle with jealousy in some degree or the other, depending on our level of jealousy. It causes us to have bad opinions of people and to see red. This sort of envious jealousy leads to all sorts of evil things if left un-checked. How to check it then? By filtering it through love.
Jealousy leading to violence can be seen all over the Bible, from Cain's murdering Abel, to Sarah's sending Hagar away, to Joseph's brothers tossing him into a pit, to the chief priests who asked for Jesus to be crucified.
An envious jealousy does not make strangers their target. It is concerned with the people you know or are closest to. It can thus hurt your marriage if you are not careful.
We are our spouses's cheerleader, and biggest fan. We cleave together to also enjoy each other. However if we are selfish we might end up feeding on sour grapes rather than congratulatory bubbly.
He may have been watching man utd vs arsenal whilst she slaved over the housework. He tells her about Ryan Giggs shooting the ball into the goal, whilst she simply wants to shoot him.
Love is a bouncer who will refuse jealousy an entry pass to our marriage. It reminds us to put our spouse first, to not mind that they are better at something, having more fun or getting more recognition. We see our spouse completing us, rather than competing with us.
TODAY'S QUOTES-
Song of Sol 8:6, Prov 27:4, Deut 4:24, James 3:16, 4:1-2, Romans 12:15
TODAY'S DARE-
Determine to become your spouse's biggest fan and to reject any thoughts of jealousy. To help you set your heart on your spouse and focus on their achievements, take yesterday's list of negative attributes and discreetly burn it. Then share with your spouse how glad you are about a success he or she recently enjoyed.
TODAY'S REFLECTION-
How hard was it to destroy the list? What are some positive experiences that you can celebrate in the life of your mate? How can you encourage them toward future successes?
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