SERMON: GUARD YOUR HEART PART 2 AGAINST

GUARD YOUR HEART PART 2-

GUARDING AGAINST JEALOUSY

By Tsaone Makula

There is an emotion that has destroyed relationships that could have been great. When I talk about relationships, I am not only talking about romantic relationships; I am talking about friendships, family relationships, work relationships, etc. This emotion is called "jealousy," an emotion that we are all likely to experience at some point in our lives. The Cambridge Dictionary defines jealousy as "a feeling of unhappiness and anger because someone has something or someone that you want," and Dictionary.com explains it as "feeling resentment because of another's success, advantage, etc." Jealousy often drives us to self-centered thoughts and impulses and frequently pushes us to speak and act in ways that contradict how the Lord wants us to live. Jealousy begins with comparing, whether it's about another person's property, profession, possessions, or personality. We see ourselves in terms of who or what others have; we compare ourselves to them, and many times, comparing puts us in second place, making us feel less important, less beautiful, less intelligent, less loved, you name it. It is at this point that all the emotions of envy, anger, and resentment rise from within our hearts. We start feeling insecure. This feeling immediately blinds us to the gifts we have received, and we begin to wallow in the fallacy that God cares less about us. We lose sight of who we truly are and begin to envy the next person.

The truth about jealousy is that it is a universal emotion that is shared by people from all civilizations, and people can express themselves in a variety of ways. Although some jealous behaviors are covert, undetected, or mild, strong jealousy can cause someone to act out or harm others. Consider the story of Joseph and his brothers. How they hated him because they felt their father loved him more than everybody else. Their jealousy aroused plans to murder their own brother, their own blood brother!

I want to encourage you today to search your heart. Are you feeling jealous towards someone? Are you struggling to be happy for a sibling, friend, or colleague who seems to be making it in life? Do you ever catch yourself wishing that it could be you succeeding or having the nicer things in life and not them? Do you ever wish you were the one being praised for your intelligence and resourcefulness rather than them? Well, if your answer was yes to all these questions, then you better get to the heart doctor ASAP. That heart doctor is Jesus Christ. He can help you overcome that struggle. He can help you love others and celebrate them unconditionally. He can help you to be a good brother, sister, friend and colleague. The Holy Spirit of God can work inside you to produce His fruits (Galatians 5:2223).