Spirits of Envy and Jealousy Video
Free: Two Half-Day Spiritual Warfare Dallas Christian Deliverance Ministry Conference
Definition of Envy and Jealousy
envy and jealousy rottenness to the bones
As we being look into the spirits of envy and jealousy I want to start with the definitions of envy and jealousy and each spiritual root.
Envy – discontented desire or resentment aroused by another’s possessions, achievements and /or advantages
Jealousy – fearful of losing what one has to another; someone’s love or affection (husband/wife relationships, friendships) – arises from envy, it’s an uneasiness that arises (envy) because of the fear that someone is going to rob something or somebody you (I) love – what happens next is you (we) become suspicion and suspect things to happen that you have no proof of and quickly the person moves into vain imagination.
These events can happen before we even realize what has occurred – that is why I believe as believers we must learn to appropriate the scriptures 2 Cor. 10:5 is vitally important in our lives “Casting down vain imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
In the Hebrews envy and jealousy have synonymous meanings.
What the word says about envy & jealousy:
Job 5:2 For wrath killeth the foolish man and envy slayeth the still one.
Proverbs 14:30 A sound heart is the life of the flesh; but envy the rottenness of the bones.
Proverbs 27:4 Wraths is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?
Romans 1:28-31 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers. Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Mark 7:20-23 And he said, that which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; All these evil things come from within and defile the man.
Galatians 5:19-21 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
The spiritual root issue behind envy and jealousy is FEAR – fear of displacement due to the deception of covetousness–
Covetousness according to Webster Dictionary – to desire that which is another’s, to wish for excessively; crave
envy is rottenness to the bones and jealousy is rottenness to the bones
Heb 13:5 –6 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have; for he hath said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord “is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
An open door comes into our lives when we look at others for acceptance that only God can give us therefore we begin to suspect someone or something is trying to move us out of a place God has placed us. You may have never been displaced, although the spirit is still operating in your life. This could be due to a generational curse operating that came into you as a very young child. You may have been over looked by your parents or given special favoritism that your brothers and sisters did not receive. The open door sets the stage for the person to begin going to the lesser rather than the greater, which is Idolatry.
Our God is no respecter of person for those that fear Him and walk in righteous before HIM. Act 10: 34-35 We must get a hold of the truth of the word because we have all come from some sort of dysfunction past that opens ground for the enemy to attack our minds – that’s were our battle field is and the enemy knows our vulnerable areas.
Isaiah 14:12-14 First demonic spirits in bible when Lucifer exalts himself above God.
“How art thou fallen from heaven, “O, Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the most high. Yet thou shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”
Lucifer was driven and motivated to sin against the Most High God. He was jealous of the honor God received. He wanted to be like God. The enemy hates it when we worship God and wants to stop worship anyway he can.
Jealousy is operating in your life if you are unable to give others honor or if when someone else receives recognition or honor you are thinking about yourself what about me why did they get that and I didn’t you don’t know the whole circumstances or the scarifies that person has walked in you to be where they are in the LORD (or in LIFE) you just immediately move into judgment, comparison and lack of appreciation for another person.
Personal Testimony: Open door as young child and in walk out. Share about jealousy in ministry and how I was not covered properly and opened door to jealousy to come into my heart even though I repented of the sin of allowing the envy/jealousy into my life and had to be restored due to the emotional damage it brought into my life and how it opened up the spirit of death to operate. Most recently I am walking through a situation at work with the Retired Counselor being hired and the feelings that came up inside me. Ungrateful, unappreciative, judging, comparing and feeling of displacement operating.
This time I am recognizing what is happening more clearly and repenting for allowing ungratefulness into my heart and long with all the other ungodly spirits. Just this week the spirit of death was trying to come back into my life but I quickly recognized, repented for opening the door, renounce and continued through the 8 R’s.
Bitterness sets the stage for envy/jealousy. Takes eyes off God and puts eyes on others or makes others source of supply for value.
Powerful dynamic voice saying, “What you have is valuable but I hate you because of what you have and I don’t” or you are loved more by others and I hate you but I’m going to destroy you by isolating you.
– Comparing self with someone else, never satisfied
– Keeps person from being who they are
– Steals peace, thinks God will not provide
The Reality of WHO I AM? In creation I am unique no accident, GOD did not make any mistakes – opposite of Envy & Jealousy – Comely Isaiah 53:2-4
Must get eyes off others, and onto GOD – DO NOT entertain thoughts of comparison with others You are the Daughter of the KING!! And has plans for each of HIS children. Jeremiah 29:11
“Godliness with contentment is great gain” I Timothy 6:6
SEEK Godliness as Your Foundation –
– Envy & Jealousy will not allow contentment
– Steals self-esteem always stirring up the pot by comparing self w/ others to bring division
If I would be perfect I would be accepted so they are driven into perfection, performance and drivenness.
Definition of perfect man or woman – walking in the light that I have seen –
applying to my LIFE:
Rooted in Idolatry – Self-Idolatry looking at self, others
Unable to rejoice with those that rejoice – Romans 12:15
Fear of Man
Marriage situation Luciferian spirit unable to honor each other or worship God
Love/Lust Love – give, receives, free will Lust – takes
Brings serious diseases to body, can come from outside to me from someone else if that person is jealous of us
Love/Hate Love keeps no record of wrong. How do they do that. They will list your imperfections or what they expect you in how to perform around them. If you do not perform the way they want, they will punish you.
Hate desires to get even – unforgiveness.
What happens with Envy and Jealousy is that when we do not rejoice with those over their successes or blesses we become critical, judgmental and eventually hating that person in our hearts. All because they were blessed!
Satan is being used in our lives – the enemy hates for us to give honor, glory and praise to anything especially the Lord he wants it all for himself.
EZEKIEL 28: 12-19 “ Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphir, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold, the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so; thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence and thou hast sinned; therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thou heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness; I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities by the iniquity of thy traffick, therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee; thou shalt be a terror and never shalt thou be any more.”
God has delegated HIS authority to man on earth and the Enemy is jealous over man.
Matthew 6:8 … man under authority
Matthew 20:25 Jesus said … Gentiles exercise dominion over them and they are great exercise authority upon them.
John 5:19-27 … hath given him authority to execute judgment
The enemy despises us taking our place by in the Kingdom by exercising our authority HE has given us as BELIEVERS.
Psalms 8:3-6 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with the glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands, thou hast put all things under his feet.”
Lucifer is jealous also because he was given one opportunity to make it right once he sinned there was no hope. God has given us the opportunity to fail and redeem us over and over again Lucifer (Satan) hates that.
We as believes must acknowledge the truth for ourselves and repent to be free from the captivity of the devil.
Mark 1:15 … repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Believing is the KEY – those that believe receive
Mark 11:23-24 …believe that ye receive
Receive by Faith – Heb 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please HIM
Matthew 17:20 If I have faith and doubt not nothing is impossible.
Envy/Jealousy can be dealt with in corporate ministry – Individual sessions will not produce anything without repentance of sin and getting right with GOD in this area.
When an uneasy feeling of JEALOUSY arises within you do not take it lightly. It is a one of the most serious places you can be because it is a Luciferian Spirit that is coming out of all Satan Hates – worship, honor and glory given to God.
Begin to recognize a pattern of Envy/Jealousy 3 common patterns
1) People that are not willing to pay the price for the anointing and calling God has on their lives you have a tendency to look at someone with an uneasiness and say to yourself
a. “Who do they think they are?”
b. “Why do they get all the blessings?”
c. “Why are they getting the revelations from God?”
Spirit of Jealous = Spirit of Death. How, because they will try to bring death on others through bringing destruction and control into your life.
Genesis 4 Cain and Abel 4-13
3 And in the process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6 And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. 8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. 9 And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not Am I my brother’s keeper? 10 And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. 11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; 12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. 13 And Cain said unto the Lord My punishment is greater than I can bear.
Abel had paid the price of obedience to the Lord and brought a blood sacrifice, although Cain took a short cut and brought sacrifice of what he had done. Abel was blessed and Cain was not, which caused him to be jealous and function in a spirit of death. When we chose the convenient way rather than paying the price of complete obedience and surrender to the Lord and feelings of jealous come into your life towards someone else the spirit of jealous will team up together to bring death. How does this happen in our lives well we cut that person out of our lives. Blessings and curses come out of the mouth. The Lord gives everyone the same opportunity to walk in obedience. Don’t take a short cut to your inheritance it doesn’t work and you end up in Envy/Jealousy over people who have taken the time and sacrifice to get where God is using them.
2) People that are insecure in their position are wide open for Jealousy to come in. Saul and David 1Sam16:6-9 And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy , and with instruments of musick. 7 And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 8 And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands and to me they have ascribed but thousands, and what can he have more but the kingdom? 9 And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.
Eyed in Hebrew means to watch with jealousy. Because David received more praise than Saul it opened a door of jealousy in Saul towards David. There assignments in the Kingdom were different but Saul wouldn’t see that and allowed anger and wrath to enter into him. David had to flee because Saul was out to murder him. Because of his insecurity Saul wasn’t thankful for the 1000 he had slain he looked at the 10,000 David slain and began to compare himself with him that opened the door to jealousy then he was unable to rejoice for David. You see how Jealousy and Death walk together – it is a serious deadly spirit that looks for a way to eliminate and kill the person.
3) Thirdly we can become jealous of the sovereignty of God. God can do what ever he wants to however and when ever He wants. We can sometimes get jealous of that sovereignty.
Matthew 20:1-16 For the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. 2 And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. 4 And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them. Why stand ye here all the day idle? 7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them. God ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laboureres, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. 9 And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. 10 But when the first came they supposed that they should have received more, and they likewise received every man a penny. 11 And when they had received it, they murmured against the Goodman of the house 12 Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 13 But he answered, one of them and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 14 Take that thine, is and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? 16 So the last shall be first, and first last, for many be called, but few are chosen.
Our God is no respecter of person and we will all receive the same reward that is HIS sovereignty. We must understand this so that when those that have been idol all of a sudden are saved, fill with the spirit and rise up in ministry and be – we do not become jealous. Many are called but few are chosen to be. God does not prefer them over us we get to be and they get to be. The spirit of jealousy will rise up if we do not understand the sovereignty character of God.
Again, it all comes out of the root of FEAR of displacement and not feeling as though you have a place.
Jealousy can destroy relationships especially marriages.
If you truly love someone you cannot hate them. What was operating was lust not real love a perverted spirit. A counterfeit affection. That is in a marriage situation.
A man jealous wanted a trophy wife to make him look good.
In a friendship, it is also a perverted spirit because you have something they will use for them to look good. Many times co-dependency will develop in this type of friendship.
Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon then arm; for love is strong as death jealousy is cruel as the grave; the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
Be caution of those that cause division count them brother/sister but do not fellowship with them.
Lust – looks into other peoples business – curiosity, medalling to obtain information to be used for future control to feed a root of bitterness.
Numbers 5:12-14 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them. If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him. 13 And a man lie with her carnally and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her neither she be taken with the manner; 14 And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled; or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled;
Adultery – hidden from eye of husband – woman defiled by a jealous husband then suspension comes in out of FEAR – lack of trust in God
Curse of barrenness comes from real or imagined infidelity opening the door to jealousy.
Jealousy can cause abuse. It will strip the partner naked causing bowel and stomach problems. Numbers 5:22 The spirit of jealousy can cause a person to deal with a true or untrue thing in an unholy way.
Voice of envy jealousy “If I can’t have you no one else can.” Breach in Covenant relationship.
Causes Judgment leading to anger/wrath/rage.
Proverbs 6:34 For jealousy is the rage of a man; therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
Jealousy can lead to violence/murder
Proverbs 27:4 “Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent, but who is able to stand before jealousy?”
What happens when we allow jealousy to lead to rage we have taken the situation into our own hands and out of God’s hands and the vengeance brings murder on the person. Stay away from a man with that kind of jealousy.
Must be released from judgments against God through a breaking and repentance and turning to the Lord, The Lord must be able to trust us. He desires the purity of our relationship with HIM.
Greatest Fear is deception & divination – cannot afford to follow a lie – another God.
God is jealousy over US. HIS jealousy is righteous, zealous and protects His Children
Scriptures that confirm HIS jealousy over us.
Ex 20:5; Ex 34:14; Deut 4:24; 5:9;6:15, Joshua 24:19
I king 14:22; Ez 8:3
Where the lamb goes is where my heart needs to be –
God desires my fellowship Jesus said I call you friends not servants
Eternal Husband forever –
Taste and see that the Lord is GOOD!
Idolatry anything esteemed about GOD!!
Jealousy can lead us to turn away from true devotion to God!
Deut. 32:16-19 “They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; with abominations they provoked Him to anger…
1 King 14:22 “Now Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins…23 And they all built them high places and images …
How does jealousy come? Comes as an emotional wound because you have not been preferred. … the spirit of Jealousy says “they don’t care about me. If they cared about me they would have recognized me.”
Jealousy will make you be in disagreement with everything your spouse says.
Jealousy is working to mess up your worth. Problem being that we have never seen that our worth actually comes from GOD. The spirit of Jealous will rise up within us when a wound is present and we are looking for our worth in other places rather than the Lord.
The spirit of jealous is not from a fiery dart of the enemy or a betrayal. It’s like a puncture wound and it takes a long time to heal. A cut heals quickly but a puncture wound takes much longer. It’s extremely susceptive to other demons that come in as companions. Usually comes out of disloyalty, broken trust or betrayal. The puncture comes because you feel like someone has been disloyal to you, broken a trust or betrayed. The voices say, “ I thought I could trust that person.”
Envy attacks our emotions to bind us up and make us ineffective for the Lord.
Scriptural picture of how Envy/Jealousy operate:
Psalm 73:1-28
Keeps us from walking in Wisdom:
James 3:14-17 “But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”
Envy/Jealousy are multi-facet – perfectionism=jealousy
Ask yourself these questions: Is anyone jealousy of who I am?
Is anyone jealous of what I am doing?
Is anyone intimidated by my gifting?
Do I have vain imaginations about people?
Must deal with every area of fear in our personal lives and ask the Lord to help us be transparent –
How envy/jealous spirit operates when we have fear due to insecurity in our lives that we are going to be displaced whether real or imaginative it does not matter it operates the same way. The fear opens the door to judgmental/critical spirit once that is locked into your heart we begin to judge the situation and/or person then the door is opened to suspicion and imagination. Next we begin to watchfully guard our lives, which brings a separation, which creates tension and distrust. Now we are in the progression to jealous rage. Underlying Spirit of Principality of Bitterness~
Unforgiveness is operating now is our lives, which can hardened our hearts.
Example: Prodigal son – Bother jealous of prodigal son – turned on him
Now that unforgiveness has entered into our lives we will begin to try to manipulate situation and people, which opens the door to witchcraft occult spirits. At this point we have become one with Jealousy and the Spirit of Death has legal ground in our lives. We can not resist this spirit we have to be DELIVERED according to Luke 4:18
For us to be set free we must repent of allow judgments in our hearts to break, forgive and then begin to speak words of blessing over the situation, people and ourselves. Allow the Love of the Lord to come in and heal the deep wound and release all the pain to HIM that HE took on the cross IS 53.
Is there any healthy good Envy/Jealous? Yes, Godly jealousy
2Corinthians 11:2 “I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
God created us uniquely and special
Ps 139:14 For I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works: and that my soul knoweth right well.
Deuteronomy 7:6-8 For thou art an holy propel unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, about all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than nay, for ye were the fewest of all people: 9 But because the Lord, loved you …
A longing for peace, healthiness can be pure – good side of envy
Appreciation of identification with someone and they have
Jealousy will bind you from operating in your anointing and gifting, it will keep you from being used, released or having ministry opportunities.
John 11:1-44 “Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, said unto him Lord by this time he stinketh; for he hath been dead four days. Jesus said unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the Glory of God?”
Stone means taking away the stumbling block the millstone that caused him death. When someone is jealous of us it brings a millstone around our neck an put a stumbling block in our way of fulfilling our call and ultimate death comes in some area of our lives.
The Kingdom of God suffers violence but the violence take it back by force. Meaning we believers must suffer even to death but the violent Holy one take back with the enemy has stolen from them by force.
The enemy hates for us to be a friend of God. What can save us from the Spirit of Jealousy? What can we do to protect ourselves from jealousy/envy?
We need to establish a 3 fold cord of truth with yourself, someone else and the Lord. Begin to Honor those around you by speaking out what you see in their Character, gifting, anointing and the fruit in their lives.
Psalms 84:11 “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Let’s allow the Lord to truly be a Shield/Protector for US
By: Traci Morin, Touch of God International Ministries, a Christian Healing and Deliverance Ministry, Spiritual Warfare Prayer setting captives free from demonic torment and sickness and disease.
Ordained Minister, Writer, Public Speaker
Our Mission: we are committed to bring healing, deliverance, and to help equip, empower, and educate men and women who feel called to minister healing and deliverance.
walkingintruth.blogspot.ru
Heavenly Father, I give thanks and praise, blessed to be among those sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be saints together with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I thank you for Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Proverbs 27:4 Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?
I bind that spirit of jealousy that’s attempting to consume my life. Click To Tweet
Wonderful Counselor, I bind that spirit of jealousy that’s attempting to consume my life. I curse it out completely in the name of Jesus, for it is more than cruelty and overwhelming fury. Remove it now, mighty God, along with the hatred, anger, fear and insecurities that fuel it.
James 3:16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
Everlasting Father, I desire to be as holy as You are. Set me free of the thoughts that consume my mind which cause the jealousy to arise. Substitute the negativity and cruelty within my heart with Your peace and love, and gentle kindness.
Lord, substitute the negativity and cruelty in my heart with Your peace and love and kindness. Click To Tweet
James 4:2-3 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. Yet, you do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
Prince of Peace, help those who are struggling today. May they experience Your love and show love in return to all they come into contact with.
Help me to not be envious towards my neighbors and friends but rather to be happy for them and encourage them to go even further. Cleanse me of anything that breaks Your heart, oh Savior.
Help me live a righteous life, Heavenly Father. Because on this day I declare it, I decree it and speak it into my life, in JESUS’ mighty name, Amen!!!
James 3:14-15 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
Proverbs 14:30 A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.
Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
christianstt.com
By Meditation Teacher Andrew Shykofsky
Jealousy and envy are emotions tied to anger.
To covet means to long for or lust after something quite badly without regard for others. One of the commandments states that you are not to covet that which does not belong to you. If we were to covet the romantic partner of another, it would mean we would want that person and not care all that much how our desire may lead to pain and suffering for others involved. Anytime there is that disregard in the mix, anger is present. Anger is the predominant emotion that short circuits your ability to empathize with others.Jealousy and envy are emotions tied to anger.
In cases where we see something that another has that we want but can’t have (or believe we can’t have), we have a choice about how to react. If we don’t do any personal reflection though, we typically react subconsciously, get angry and slip into a jealous or envious state. The error begins in how we are perceiving the situation. Somewhere inside of us lives an idea that we can’t have what we truly want. As such, we tend to see the world through these murky lenses.
Wounding and pain from the past lead to the development of a jealous attitude. The reality is that with God, all things are possible meaning what you want can generally be given so long as it is in accord with Divine Law. Wanting the husband or wife of another person is out of accord with the Divine. Remember that unlike where our culture has gotten to now, marriage is meant to be a sacred covenant that lasts one’s entire life. To focus on a particular person who has already made that vow to another person is simply wrong. While you might have some innocent feelings about or towards a married person, being conscious means you discipline yourself to curb those feelings and realize they are never to be acted upon.
The difference between someone who gets jealous or envious and someone who doesn’t is the degree to which they believe in themselves, have faith in God and are willing to put the work in to have the things they want. Below the surface lies negative beliefs that need to be examined for this is where the problem begins. Through meditation and working with a teacher, these beliefs may become known.
You could say that jealousy and envy are lazier choices because we can default to them and perpetuate the idea that life is unfair. You look around the room and see someone who has what you want and rather than choosing to become inspired and seek to work for what you want, you fall prey to the temptation to become a victim.
Let’s talk through an example of someone who has a chronic tendency to compare themselves to others. This is always an egotistical act because our souls don’t feel interested in those kinds of competitive assessments. The soul is wiser than to enter into a competition that you can’t win. And you can’t win because there is no peace in pursuing success and accomplishments that are fueled by anger. The ego never lets us rest even if we do beat another and win what they have. It is still never enough.
From the spiritual perspective, giving over to jealousy, envy or entitlement is an act of pride. How so? Pride becomes active because we want something that we can’t have but feel entitled to or don’t believe we can have. That is a misunderstanding of God and the way that the dark forces tend to incite us against God. Think of Eve. The story of Genesis teaches that the serpent incited Eve to think that something was being withheld from her which wasn’t true. The snake told her to look around and see how the animals were allowed to mate and have children but that God was treating her unfairly. The truth was that she and Adam weren’t ready for the intensity of the sexual experience and so it was being withheld but the darkness twisted it into a convincing lie. She chose to believe the lie and to take something that wasn’t hers to take. As we all know, that ended badly for a lot of people.
Comparing oneself is a symptom of a lack of self-esteem resulting from an erroneous belief system. Somewhere we have decided to believe a specific lie that was reinforced usually throughout our childhood. That lie can take a few forms but essentially it touches on the idea that you aren’t good enough. If you bought the lie, eventually you began to create a life from that premise. The reinforcement from people in your life has been disempowering and without having the encouragement to try new things and succeed (and fail at times), one’s confidence is underdeveloped.
As discussed, the symptom is the unhealthy habit of thinking a certain way and coming up short in your own mind. The basis by which you compare yourself is corrupt meaning you almost always come up short or else you see yourself as better than the other as a compensation for ‘how you have suffered’. The mind and the ego are at play here because they want to emphasize your uniqueness and be special.
What about when we have a partner and we worry about someone else stepping in and taking them away from us? This is a form of jealousy that leads to possessiveness. It is rooted in the same belief system that we aren’t good enough to hold onto the thing we have and so desperately want. Someone who suffers from this fear puts a lot of constriction on their relationship unfairly if they aren’t able to discern if in fact there is any cause for concern.
Always remember that fear constricts while love liberates. If you are grasping onto your partner and petrified/infuriated every time you sense someone finds them attractive, you are holding on too tightly. There needs to be trust in the relationship that the commitment is genuine which is why God has ordained that love relationships move to a commitment and are not consummated casually. He knows that we need security in order to share ourselves so vulnerably.
In the case where your partner is allowing emotional leaks to your relationship, meaning they are enjoying the attentions of another beyond what is appropriate, you do have grounds to feel upset. It is selfish and inconsiderate to allow any kind of emotional or physical bonding to occur when there is even a hint of romantic energy when we know one of the people or ourselves are already coupled up.
So how does this get fixed? A lot of the spiritual work on the Path is about restraining yourself time and time again until the new pattern solidifies. We sometimes think that we will receive a miracle and the feeling of jealousy or envy will never bother us again. That could happen but we don’t count on it. That’s up to God. The initial work is to be vigilant and anytime you feel yourself moving into a jealous or envious mindset or noticing those feelings, you train yourself to stop the behavior and affirm the truth. And that truth is that you can have what you want and you can become confident if you learn these skills.
We have heard many people say they want to change and would do most anything to have the things they want in life. God is always poised to send abundant help to the serious disciple meaning the one prepared to discipline themselves. But upon reviewing the seemingly relentless amount of attention you have to give to change even one behavioral pattern, most actually give up. This is unfortunate.
In Wisdom School, we let go of the idea that changing a long ingrained behavioral pattern will be easy. Where’s the wisdom in that? By turning humbly to God and owning the fact that you have allowed yourself to indulge in jealousy and envy and have at times acted on these emotions, we move into a repentant frame of being and can be forgiven.
You must have compassion on yourself for the reasons you have been afraid or have lacked confidence. Just be careful not to become self-pitying or play the victim. Mistreatment in your life that led to low self-esteem is quite common. You have to accept your history and also accept the work ahead. Everyone has various challenges that we could all look around and find someone who seems to get it easy. But we aren’t asked to judge in this way. Accept your challenge and trust in God that now is the time for you to take it on.
Teacher: Meditation Teacher Andrew Shykofsky
www.meditatecenter.com
