Beware of Jealousy

Jealousy and envy truly is the green eyed monster. I want to warn you to take jealousy seriously and do not allow it to have any place in you, your family or your church. It is extremely destructive and there should be no place for it in the body of Christ.

If the spirit of jealousy is allowed to influence believers and ensnare them then it will cause division, strife and can also cause physical sickness.

This is what I want to warn you about today and make you aware of the dangers of jealousy.

Jealousy leads to mistrust, division, confusion and strife in the body of Christ.

James 3:16 “For where envy & self seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing is there“

Jealousy comes from a fear of losing our place.

Losing our place in someone’s affections, losing our place of influence, our place of authority, our place of importance, our place of favour.

The fear arises- Someone else is going to take my place or someone else has taken my place.

If that wrong thought takes hold then the person will be jealous of the one that they believe has taken or is going to take their place.

It could be a place in ministry or in leadership in the church or group that they think should be theirs. In their mind it belongs to them.

If someone is jealous of you then they will usually struggle to hide it. It will manifest itself in some way – either in malicious gossip or criticism behind your back or if they are very bold then viciously to your face – it’s more likely to be poison spread to others but if the person is very bitter then they will do their utmost to pull you down by direct attacks on you.

If they are doing it all very subtly behind your back then you may be oblivious to this attack on you and its source. If this is happening to you then you may well be suffering problems in one way or another from the spiritual attack on you. It can manifest as sickness, physical pain, extreme fatigue or tiredness in your body.

If you are suffering from extreme tiredness, headaches, neck or back pain and there is no obvious physical cause then I urge you to pray about it. Ask the Holy Spirit, who is the spirit of truth, to reveal whether this is a spiritual attack on you. Pray for discernment.

If someone is jealous of you then the fiery darts of the enemy are being aimed in your direction. If they are finding their mark then they need to be dealt with.

When the attack comes from a brother or sister in Christ then it will generally hit you in your back and the spirit of jealousy will go for your head which is why often there can be a face, neck or back pain as a result. Our backs are the unprotected part of us because we are supposed to be there for each other – standing back to back with each other. Attacks are not supposed to come from each other within the body of believers.

If you discern that a spirit of jealousy is afflicting you then pray with a trusted friend. Rebuke the spirit of jealousy and break off its effects on you in Jesus name and in the authority of His name, pray for healing and restoration in your body and forgive and bless the person who is jealous of you. It does not matter whether you do or do not know who it is – bless those who curse you. Pray for them.

If reading this you have recognised that you are a jealous person and have been jealous of someone then I urge you to repent of it – ask the Lord’s forgiveness and pray for and bless that person instead. Pray for healing for any hurts that you have caused through your jealousy whether physical, emotional or spiritual. Rebuke the spirit of jealousy in Jesus’ name and pray for release of its hold over you. Pray that the Lord will strengthen you to submit this area of your mind and emotions to the Lord and to resist the enemy from having this stronghold in your life. Pray that you are also healed from the effect of jealousy in your heart and body.

A sound heart is life to the body but envy is rottenness to the bones – Proverbs 14:30

There is no need for jealousy amongst believers because we all have our unique place in the body of Christ. There is a place for you, a place for me and a place for each of us.