Overcoming jealousy
David continued to succeed in everything he did, for the Lord was with him. When Saul recognized this, he became even more afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David because he was so successful at leading his troops into battle. One day Saul said to David, “I am ready to give you my older daughter, Merab, as your wife. But first you must prove yourself to be a real warrior by fighting the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “I’ll send him out against the Philistines and let them kill him rather than doing it myself.” 1 Samuel 18:14-17 Jealousy is a destructive attitude that can poison the way you live and how you view life. From the text, King Saul was jealous of the success of David and this led him to become insecure. This insecurity inflamed his hatred to David. God had blessed Saul in numerous ways. He had been elevated to the highest position in Israel. But when he saw how David was getting praise from the Israelites when they had victory from a war, he felt slighted. Instead of recognizing that David’s victory is his victory as well because he was the commander, he schemed a plan to have David killed. Rather than recognizing that it was God who empowered David so that the Israelites could defeat their enemies, Saul was filled with hatred in his heart. He wanted the people of Israel to recognize him more than David. From then on, King Saul could no longer do his God-given role to lead Israel because he was overcome with jealousy. Jealousy is a disgrace in the life of a Christian. When you start to compare yourself to others and covet what others have, you will lose sight of what God has been doing in your life. God had blessed His children with gifts this world will not be able to give. They do not deserve to be His children, yet because of His grace and mercy, He provided for them a way through Jesus’ death on the cross (Romans 5:8). His love gave them the authority to be called children of God (John 1:12). So there is no need to compare your blessings with those of other children of God. Jealousy is self-centeredness at its worst. Jealousy will rob you of joy and will hinder you to be content. Jealousy hardens the heart and subdues gratitude. Jealousy assumes that God’s resources are too limited that this will limit Him to bless others. Saul grew so preoccupied with his jealousy toward David that he neglected the important things. This brought suffering and pain upon his people. His family was also destroyed because of his jealousy. Watch over your heart! Be on guard that you will give in to jealousy of the blessings others have. Do not let jealousy taint your heart that you will start to covet what others have. Repent before it robs you of any more of the joy and contentment God desires for you. When you are tempted to compare what you have in life to that of another, ask God to remind you of all the ways He has blessed you undeservedly.
Blessings.
