The first stronghold we'll look at is that of jealousy....the green eyed monster. It doesn't seem to die down in both the rural areas as well as the city, despite the fact that we know how destructive it is. Instead of being unifiers, the natural tendency is to be divisive.
 |
| Sam Poe |
Stronghold of Jealousy by Sam Poe
Sam started off by telling the story of Cain and Abel from Genesis 4: 1 - 15. This is quite a tragic story of Cain who allowed jealousy to build a stronghold in his life. It had to do with the condition of Cain’s heart. True worship is in the condition of the heart. Abel had a good heart of love and joy while Cain’s heart darkened with sin. It wasn’t repentant and he wasn’t willing to turn from sin. Cain went through the motions but he had the stronghold of anger and jealousy. God came to Cain and wanted Cain to come to him with his whole heart. Cain wasn’t responsive to God. Not only did he have a bad attitude towards God, he had a resentful, jealous attitude towards Abel. Finally, the stronghold of jealousy and anger in Cain’s life led him to turn on his brother. He murdered Abel and walked away. Cain’s life ended in ruin. He wound up all alone, not experiencing God’s grace. It’s not part of Gods plan for us to wonder through life on our own.
Proverbs 14:30 “A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones.” What is jealousy? Jealousy is like bone cancer. It eats you up inside and brings death. It’s dangerous and must be demolished.
James 3:16 “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.” Wherever there is jealousy, the door is open for every evil practice. People will kill others because of jealousy – kill people with words.
Jealousy is an attitude of the heart. It’s a heart that feels when someone is blessed; it’s a curse on them. Another persons, happiness and success in life are misfortune for them. Envy and jealousy are closely linked and it’s rooted in the heart that is a lie. It’s a lie that believes think there is limited good in life. Envy and jealousy cause people to go on the offensive. They try to hurt the other person, bring them down and want to see their misfortune because of the good the other person is receiving. Jealousy just wants to destroy and tear down.
How can we be free from jealousy?
Tear down the lie with the truth of God’s word. With God there is unlimited good. God has an unlimited supply of goodness and blessing for everything on earth.
Psalm 145: 7 & 9 “They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, and shall sing of Your righteousness……….The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.”
God wanted Cain to know this truth but Cain hung on to the attitude of jealousy and it finally destroyed him.
Summary: Come to the truth that God is unlimited in goodness even through difficult times. He can turn it around for good. Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”
Demolishing jealousy is not natural to the human heart. It comes from God, the Holy Spirit, confessing the sin and being in God’s word.
Summarized by Molly Manhanga
No comments:
Post a Comment