July 30, 2021 … Defeating the Green-Eyed Monster …

 

Berry Patch Devotions in 2021 - Day 211 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...   Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from Olivia Rodrigo singing  … Jealousy Jealousy … Poignantly singing of the the damaging life-effects of jealousy or envy in our lives.   

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Highlight Passage:   1Samuel 18:7  [NIV] …  

7 This was their [God’s people] song:  “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands!” 

… When Saul heard the people singing of David’s successes in battle he was overwhelmed with jealousy and envy.         

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Highlight Passage [Context]: …  1Samuel 18:5-9 [NIV] …  USE THIS LINK … 

…  When King Saul saw David’s rising popularity with God’s people, he became sinfully jealous, which ultimately led to God lifting Saul’s anointed power from the king. 

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Reference Passage: … Proverbs 14:30, 27:4 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… God, thru Solomon, teaches the evil effects of jealousy in our lives.     

Reference Passage: … Ecclesiastes 4:4 [NLT] … 

4 Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.  

… God, thru Solomon, teaches that jealousy is even more dangerous to our soul than anger.  

Reference Passage: … 1Corinthians 13:4 [NLT] … 

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud. 

… Paul teaches that choosing to love defeats the negative effects of jealousy.

Reference Passage: … James 3:14-16 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… God, thru James, shows Christians how evil are the effects of envy or jealousy. 

Reference Passage: … 1Peter 4:8 [NLT] … 

8 Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. 

… God, thru Peter, teaches that our choosing love is the way to defeat all kinds of sin, like envy or jealousy.   

My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Sheridan Voysey, AT THIS LINK  … shows how the jealousy/envy that composer Antonio Salieri displayed for Mozart in the movie, Amadeus, which ultimately led to Salieri being consumed with anger and bitterness and participating in Mozart’s death.  

And that story illustrates what Olivia Rodrigo sings about in the linked song and what the Scriptures above teach from God’s word … that envying others can - and quite often does - lead to frustration —> anger —> bitterness —> and ultimately, sinful actions against others.  Jealousy or envy (as in the photo) truly is the “green-eyed monster;” and it is to be avoided and conquered by our choosing to love and pray for those we envy until the “monster” is defeated in our minds and hearts. 

So, I pray today that if any of us who hold any envy for another, that we realize and confess the sin of our jealousy and replace it by reaching out and sharing love, (see 1Cor 13:4 and 1Peter 4:8) … which charges us to pray for the one we envy.   And I pray we do just that today!          

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for helping me choose to love those whom I might hold any jealousy and to pray for them today. 

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to honestly and humbly pray for any in our lives with whom we may envy today.  … Amen 

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Blogger Note:  Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can to the blog via email at that site.