Jealousy

Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like a blazing fire, like a mighty flame.? – SONG OF SOLOMON 8:6

Jealousy, the most destructive emotion that emits from the brain, is universal. No culture or group of people has ever been found anywhere in the world or written about in history who did not have to cope with jealousy.

Anthropologists have described jealousy as an evolutionary development designed to keep a mate coming back to the fire. I don’t think so. The first murder – that of a brother, which you can read about in Genesis 4 – took place in the Garden of Eden as Cain became jealous of his brother for God’s love and favor. It resulted in God’s punishment upon Cain.

It is of interest that the Bible speaks of this powerful emotion some 56 times in varying circumstances. Solomon, who was said to be the wisest man in the world, having had plenty of experience with spousal jealousy, said that it “arouses a husband’s fury” and is as “unyielding as the grave” (Song of Solomon 8:6). In the church at Corinth Paul said there was “jealousy and quarreling.”

There is no questioning the fact that out of control jealousy results in rage and violence. Brain scans show that images invoking jealousy stimulate the posterior lobes of a brain, and I suspect that when anyone gets angry enough about anything there’s a small volcano of activity on the brain.

But God never writes off our failures, saying, “Poor thing. She just had too much to handle. Strike that one out of the book, Gabriel.”

Believe it or not, there are discussions about developing a pill – a chemical of some kind – that would eliminate jealousy. I doubt that would work, though. The bottom line is that each person is accountable for his actions. Nonetheless, that green- eyed monster, unchecked, can turn into a deadly foe and killer. It destroys real love, so be on your guard.

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Used with permission from Guidelines International Ministries. To learn more about Guidelines and the ministry, send an e-mail to [email protected]. You may also visit www.guidelines.org.