“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Exodus 20:17 (NIV(
I have a problem with jealousy. I see people and they seemingly have a great life, wonderful things, and not a care in the world. It makes me jealous.
Do Not Covet
In the scripture above we read in the ten commandments, that we are not to covet things.
According to Dictionary.com the word “covet” means.
“to desire wrongfully, inordinately, or without due regard for the rights of others”
dictionary.com
I don’t want what they have bad enough to take it or hurt the person. Is that coveting? I’m looking for a loophole.
God is Jealous
“You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,”
“Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”
Exodus 20:5 and Exodus 34:14 (NIV)
As I dug in the scriptures a bit more I read that God is jealous. I’ll be honest. That bothered me. Wouldn’t that be giving God human attributes? God is holy.
The commentary gave me the answer.
Exodus 34:14-A jealous God.—Not in the sense in which He was regarded as “jealous” by some of the Greeks, who supposed that success or eminence of any kind provoked Him (Herod. iii. 40, 125), but jealous of His own honor, one who will not see “His glory given to another” (Isaiah 42:8; Isaiah 48:11), or allow rivals to dispute His sole and absolute sovereignty. (Comp. Exodus 34:14; Deuteronomy 4:24; Deuteronomy 5:9; Deuteronomy 6:15; Joshua 24:19.)
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/exodus/20-5.htm#:~:text=Exodus%2020%3A5%20Commentaries%3A%20%22You%20shall%20not%20worship%20them,those%20who%20hate%20Me%2C%20Bible%3E%20Commentaries%3E%20Exodus%2020%3A5
When I am jealous of someone or what they have, it is putting that before God. Oops??
God Comes First
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?
To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.
Deuteronomy 10:12-14 (NIV)
That is staggering. So I’ll blame the monster. The green-eyed monster made me do it. Interestingly enough, the green-eyed monster was first used in Shakespeare. I won’t send you down that rabbit hole of the internet, but look it up when you have some time.
If something is on my mind, it is putting that before God. God wants to be the only thing we worship and think about.
Watch Your Focus
When I notice it happening, I need to change my focus.
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.
James 4:2 (NIV)
God wants to be with us and give us what we need. He wants to be the focus of our life.
I wrote a blog post on “Focus”. If you’d like to read it, I’ve linked it below.
Let’s acknowledge our sins of jealousy. Ask God for forgiveness and turn our focus back to him.
If you like what you see, please like, share and pass along to your family, friends, enemies, frenemies, and acquaintances. You can subscribe to the blog and I’m on Pinterest and Facebook!
