Jealousy and envy. The destruction twins.

For jealousy makes a man furious,
    and he will not spare when he takes revenge. Proverbs 6:34

Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy? Proverbs 27:4

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 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. James 3:13-15

A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot. Proverbs 14:30

Can you recognize these ‘twins’ of destruction working in and around your life? It seems these two are spreading fast through this country right now. The insane acts perpetrated on innocent people just because of a certain name or the thinnest connection to something someone doesn’t like. Ex. Tesla. The blindness is almost immediate when jealousy and envy show up and nothing positive anything the ‘targeted’ individual does will ever be recognized, and every possible evil thing will be immediately associated with that individual whether they deserve it or not. Right now, major prominent names in politics are the main targets, especially the sitting President and anyone connected to him. (They’ve actually named this “condition” as TDS- Trump Derangement Syndrome) But this phenomenon of jealousy and envy isn’t happening in just America, it is happening to many conservative leaders in western style countries all over the world. I believe it is these demonic entities stirring up jealousy and envy to cause people to become greatly irrational to the point of becoming mentally deranged. Is there a ‘perfect’ person who can do no wrong? That was Jesus, and everyone else falls short. So… we have LOTS of broken people, including you and me. But as those who are indwelled with His Spirit, can we see the positive and good that is also happening around us, and those who are attempting to help others? Can we look beyond the brokenness and see the Truth of what God is doing with and through them? Or if the loudest voices (or media) condemn someone …do we just fall in line with the mob shouting inane slogans? Can we actually discern the good happening? Can we see the corruption being exposed? Are we against the corruption being exposed? Shouldn’t we champion the truth of things? Shouldn’t we want the evil to be dragged into the Light and seen for what is really is? Can you recognize lies? Are you able to see the hypocrisy? Rarely is the truth spoken in the media these days. Almost all of it is about perpetrating a narrative and lies.

Can you recognize the tentacles of jealousy and envy in your own life? How much do they affect your thinking and attitude towards others? Are these twins effecting your ability to think straight and logically with reason? Jealousy and envy easily lead to irrational hate.

Why do you think Jesus asked us to ‘love our enemies’?  Why do you think we are asked to pray for our leaders? How are our hearts affected when we obey these commands? Or do we do them with malice in our hearts through gritted teeth? Be honest with yourself. Allow the Holy Spirit to point out the tentacles of jealousy and envy in your own heart. Unfortunately, jealousy and envy are VERY stealthy and hard to recognize in our own lives. We all need the Light of the Holy Spirit to shine on those tentacles of jealousy and envy so that we can allow Him to begin to remove them from our lives.

These twins are wreaking havoc right now in this world, country, state, county, city, and in our local towns. These twins are also wreaking havoc in the Church, family, and groups of friends. We are not immune to their wiles, and we have to vigilant to call them out and expose them for what they actually are. The usual response when called out will of course be denial, and then you will see hatred very quickly. So, we also must be aware of our own plank in our eye BEFORE calling the ‘twins’ out, so allow the Holy Spirit to deal with those ‘planks’ causing you to not see clearly and correctly.

Are you aware of the enemy’s tactics? Is the Holy Spirit enlightening you to the spiritual warfare surrounding your life? What are you jealous and envious about?

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Don’t allow a mental derangement to take over your minds. Have the mind of Christ.