Judge Your Jealousy Series

Judge Your Jealousy

Habits of Happiness Part 3

Galatians 5:13-21

We all want to be happy.

I bet there is no single person who intentionally chooses to be unhappy.

However, so many people in this world are not happy for one reason or another.

In order to be happy, this is what we have to realize.

Happiness is our choice.

Happiness is something that we choose.

In order to be happy, we must do things that will bring happiness.

However, there are many who are not happy.

It is partly because of the way they think, the way they talk, and the way they act does not make them happy.

When people think negatively, talk critically, and act unbiblically, these are not something that they acquired overnight.

They are habits that they have built.

Therefore, in order to be happy, we must change the way we think, talk, and act.

We must build habits of thinking, talking, and acting biblically.

And we can form these habits by repeatedly doing them.

And today we will talk about the importance of judging our jealousy.

Why is it so important for us to overcome jealousy in order to be happy?

It is because jealousy leads to loneliness.

The Bible tells us to rejoice with those who rejoice and to mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15).

People who are consumed with jealously do just the opposite.

They rejoice when others mourn and they mourn when others rejoice.

In that way, jealousy is the loneliest of all vices.

It isolates us because everyone becomes our competitor.

It forces us to focus inward and makes us selfish.

When we become free from jealousy, we can be healthy and happy.

But every time we give in to jealousy, we move toward a never-ending cycle of comparison and unhappiness.

Look at the place where we work.

There are so much office politics and power struggles.

One division competes with another division.

One worker envies the other worker.

A whole company can be poisoned by jealousy.

What about the coworker who has an office down from you?

Is there jealous between you over salary or position?

Look at some churches.

Members fight to be recognized.

Pastors fight over popularity.

Look at some parents.

Parents become jealous when other kids do better than their kids.

If you do not believe me, go to some sport games and see how some parents behave.

Look at some families.

Jealousy seek to destroy the families.

It all began with Cain’s jealousy over Abel.

We saw the jealousy between Jacob and Esau.

In the New Testament, there is the older brother in the story of the Prodigal son.

And we see the disciples fighting over the superior position.

Jealousy is in every area of our lives.

However, unless we learn to overcome our feelings of jealousy, we can never be truly happy.

Then how can we overcome jealousy?

Paul gave us these three antidotes against jealousy.

I. We must renounce jealousy as sin (vv. 15, 19-21).

Verses 19-21 say this.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Some of us might think that jealousy is not that bad.

It is a normal human tendency.

However, that is not what the Bible says.

Paul listed serious sins in our lives, and he included envy or jealousy as one of those sins.

He listed it along with other sins; sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, drunkenness, and orgies.

In other words, in God’s sight, jealousy is as serious a sin as others.

Why?

We must understand how destructive jealousy can be.

First, jealousy can destroy others.

People lose their reputation or even their very lives because of someone else’s jealousy.

Others lose their jobs or opportunities.

We see some example of this in the Bible.

Cain killed his brother Abel because of his jealousy.

Jacob stole his brother’s birthright because of his jealousy.

Joseph’s brothers sold Joseph into slavery because of their jealousy.

King Saul tried to kill David out of jealousy.

Others in the king’s court were jealous of Daniel and threw Daniel in the lion’s den.

Jealousy can destroy others.

Second, jealousy can destroy the person who envies.

Cain killed his brother Abel because of his jealousy.

However, he destroyed himself in the process.

Jacob stole the birthright from his brother.

However, his jealousy sentenced him to years of wandering and hardship.

Joseph’s brothers sold Joseph because of their jealousy.

However, they suffered under the terrible burden of guilt for years.