“We''re blasted by anger and swamped by rage, but who can survive jealousy?”  (Proverbs 27:4)

Have you ever been the object of someone’s jealousy?  If you have, you know that it can be a very uncomfortable feeling.  When someone is jealous of you, it makes it very difficult to have a real relationship.  There is no trust, all your actions are suspect, and quite often the one who harbors jealousy in their hearts also harbors hatred as well.  That is the situation David found himself in.

Saul was jealous of David because David seemed to have everything going for him.  Even though Saul was older than David and had an entire country under his rule, he couldn’t stand the fact that David had the one thing he didn’t have any longer – the favor of God.  As a result, he hated David and wanted to destroy him.  He spent many years attempting to do exactly that. (see the complete story in 1 Samuel)  What I found most interesting was David’s refusal to enter the ‘crazy cycle’ with Saul.  Even when he had many opportunities to get even with Saul, he wouldn’t do it because of his respect for God and the position God had placed Saul in.  David didn’t understand why Saul treated him with such distain when he had always been kind and respectful to Saul.  It was a puzzle to him.  Why would great King Saul, who had everything – money, property, position, and power – spend any time chasing and attempting to destroy someone subject to him?

But that is how jealousy operates.  It is an emotion that often causes the one possessing it to behave in an illogical manner and the object of the jealousy to feel hunted down and betrayed.  So what do you do when you find yourself in this position? 

First, we can learn from it.  The Bible says:  “Then I observed all the work and ambition motivated by envy. What a waste! Smoke. And spitting into the wind.”  (Ecclesiastes 4:4)  Realize that jealousy is a waste of time and pursuing something just to ‘keep up with the Jones’ shows a lack of wisdom.  God wants us to run our own races in life, not try to run the race assigned to someone else. 

Second, we should pray for those that we know harbor jealousy against us.  Here is what Jesus said, “Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.”  (Luke 6:28)  It is so easy to pray for those who are kind to us; it takes a person of a different character to pray for someone that we know is intentionally (or may be unintentionally) trying to destroy us.

Even though you may never have a close relationship with someone that harbors jealousy towards you, there is something else you can do on their behalf.  “Love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.” (Luke 6:27)  You can love them and do good towards them.  Clearly, there are some relationships that are so toxic that you may need to keep a distance from the person or create a healthy boundary in your life where they are concerned.  But you can love them and be good to them in those circumstances. 

It is when we show compassion for those that have no compassion towards us that we exhibit the transforming power of God in our lives.  If you have found yourself on the receiving end of the ‘green-eyed monster’, commonly known as jealousy, see this as your opportunity to rise above it and in so doing, touch the heart of God.