Overcoming the Spirit of Jealousy

The man (Isaac) began to prosper and continued prospering until he became very prosperous, for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him. (Genesis 26:13-14)

For no apparent reason, the Philistines began to act strangely toward Isaac. Once they had been open and friendly, but now, all of a sudden, their attitudes toward him changed. They became jealous and felt threatened by the blessing of God upon Isaac’s life.

When the blessing of God starts manifesting in your life, you can’t hide it. So then be prepared for people to get jealous of you for no apparent reason. Many people write to me saying, “I have not done anything wrong to anyone, then why are people acting in this manner.” My friend, the simple answer is, they are jealous of God’s blessing upon your life.

In Genesis chapter 37, we see that the blessing of God was on Joseph, so God began to show him his future through prophetic dreams; he started to receive dreams of being a ruler and his brothers bowing down before him.

Joseph’s biggest mistake was that he began to share his intimate dreams with his brothers, and this caused them to be even more jealous of him to the extent that they wanted to kill him. (Genesis 37:8). In the end, they sold him as a slave in Egypt.

Even David, a man after God’s own heart, had to overcome jealousy.

Now it had happened as they were coming home when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. So the women sang as they danced and said:

“Saul has slain his thousands,

And David his ten thousands.”

Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now, what more can he have but the kingdom?” So Saul eyed David from that day forward. (1 Samuel 18:6-8)

Saul was jealous of David because David was more successful than him and received more praise from the people. When you are being used by God more than the people around you, be prepared for jealousy to come against you. Don’t stop doing what God has called you to do. Do it more. Do it even better.

Even our Lord Jesus had to overcome the spirit of jealousy against Him.

When Pontius Pilate was trying his best to release Jesus, scripture says in Matthew 27:18 that, “He knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.”

It was obvious to even an unbeliever such as Pontius Pilate that Jesus was falsely accused by the Pharisees and Sadducees because of jealousy.

The Pharisees and Sadducees could not handle the fact that multitudes came to him even though he was not formally educated. They could not bear to see that the people loved him and respected him so much.

Remember this as long as you live. If you are battling jealousy, then it is an indicator of a measure of success or favour resting on your life.

Overcoming the Spirit of Jealousy

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