Anger and jealousy are two emotions we do not want to admit we have. The usual outcome of these two emotions is negative. The outcome will always be sinful if we allow them to rule us or even simmer under the surface.
While anger is a God-given emotion, as humans, we usually express it in the wrong manner. Anger can be a passionate response to a wrong done to an innocent person. Anger can be that emotion that causes us to make a wrong right. It is our expression that we are strongly against something. It is an agitation of the mind that can lead us to take revenge, which is never right. While it is not wrong to be angry against sin, it is wrong to allow our anger to cause us to sin. In Ephesians 4:26-27, Paul teaches us to “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.”
Just as anger can be positive or negative, jealousy can be right or wrong. In the Bible, God shows jealousy for His people, Israel. They are His, and His design is to protect, love, and secure them for all eternity. He knows what is best for them. In Exodus 20:3, God declares, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” In verse 5, God tells them, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God.” God has this right because He made us, and we are to be committed to Him alone. Human jealousy can be good for protecting the marriage, but most often, it is a self-destructive emotion. Jealousy causes us to have a negative feeling when someone else has something that we want. It may be the attention someone gets because they are good at something that we are not.
When anger or jealousy is not used in a godly manner, for righteousness’ sake, it will become hostile and yield painful results that last a lifetime. Saul was the King of Israel, but he became angry and jealous of David when he was praised for saving the Israelites from the Philistines. The people loved David, but Saul’s anger and jealousy caused him to seek to kill David. In this situation, Saul was entirely wrong. David’s intent was not to dethrone Saul, but he was honorable in all he did for Israel.
I Samuel 18:6-9 “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 music. And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 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? And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.”
Herod was angry and jealous of Jesus when He was born. He sent the Magi to find the baby so that he could have Him murdered. In Matthew 2:8, Herod lies when he says his intent to find Jesus was so he could go and worship him. “And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.”
When his plot does not work, he is so jealous and angry that he has all the boy babies who are two years old and under killed. In his mind, this would take care of the problem of another King coming on the scene.
Matthew 2:16 “Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. “
Today, we are no different than Saul or Herod. While we may not be jealous or angry enough to seek someone’s life, we are just as guilty as these two men. In Titus 3:3, Paul teaches us that we have these same sinful emotions dwelling within us. Titus 3:3 “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.” I John 3:15 “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” When we harbor these feelings in our hearts, we are guilty, even if we do not act upon them. At the heart of anger and jealousy is selfishness. Both emotions grow out of a feeling of being treated wrong. We feel someone has something that we are entitled to. When jealousy is not dealt with according to scripture, we get angry. Saul was so jealous of David that he showed anger, and that anger led to Saul seeking to kill David. These emotions ruled Saul and eventually destroyed him.
We must always be on guard so that we do not allow these emotions to dwell in our hearts. We need a daily check-up on our hearts. We are all capable of any sin if we don’t seek to repent as soon as we see wrong attitudes and emotions in our lives. I love the phrase, “But for the grace of God, there go I.” Without the grace of God and His convicting and teaching by the Holy Spirit, I, too, can have sin in my heart that will rule. What is in your heart today? The longer a sin stays in your life, the more comfortable it becomes. The more comfortable it becomes, the harder it is to forsake it.
