James 3:16

It starts in a child at an early age and can last a lifetime; it can wreck the love between two people who thought they were inseparable; it can bring nations to war and the most powerful people to ruin.

I’m talking about jealousy defined as feeling resentful, bitter, grudging, envious, covetous over someone who is perceived as having an advantage.

The jealousy you feel when someone else likes your man or woman more than you. The jealousy you feel over a rival who got the job or position or the custody rights you wanted; the jealousy you feel because they live in a better house, drive a nicer car, have more money than you do. The jealousy you feel because someone else got preferential treatment over you due to the color of her skin or her age or his gender.

You know what I’m talking about because too many times we have been stung, hurt, betrayed, devastated by the jealousy we felt in our hearts that was so strong its grip made us say and do things that we knew were wrong.

Many of you know the story of Joseph and the coat of many colors. Here was a favored son, the baby of the family, who received from his father a special present, a beautiful robe that did not go unnoticed by his older brothers. In Gen. 37:4 it says: “…when (Joseph’s) brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.” The jealousy the brothers felt for their younger brother was so intense they wanted to kill him, but they did something just as bad: they sold him into slavery. The story had a good ending because Joseph emerged from slavery as a favorite of the Pharoe of Egypt, and, eventually, as the savior of his brothers who sold him into slavery.

Jealousy is called the green-eyed monster, and for good reason. It is one of the works of the flesh of which San Paul writes. It has the power to negate reason in a man or a woman, and cause them to do unspeakable things. No wonder that the scriptures condemn it as something to be avoided; it can wreck a family, a marriage, friendship, relationships; and it can prevent a person from acting rationally and in a normal manner. It takes a power greater than human nature to overcome jealousy. That power we call grace: the power of Jesus to redeem us and to free us from feelings of jealousy for one another.

Why should Christians be jealous of one another? There is no earthly or godly reason why a Christian should harbor feelings of jealousy for a brother or sister. We are all engaged in the same work: to bring about the Kingdom of God here on earth. When one of us triumphs; when one of us succeeds in overcoming one obstacle or another; we all triumph and are better off because of what our brother or sister accomplished.

A true Christian is incapable of jealousy because, in jealousy, there is more of self-love than love.

Fr. Hugh Duffy