Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Jealous of God's Love

People always say "jealous" when they seem to mean "envious". Sure, they say "orientated" when they mean "oriented", but this is not mere grammar. Envious means, I want what you have. Jealous means, I want all of your love and attention for myself. Asked to define these words, most of us would be able to explain the difference. Yet we persist in saying we are "jealous". Does this slip point to something deeper? Perhaps we are not really coveting the gift the other has. Perhaps we are truly jealous of the Giver of the gift. Are we fearful that God loves them more than He loves us? God's love is boundless. He can love the prosperous, talented, beautiful woman down the street and love me. I think envy is actually the lesser sin. At least it doesn't place human limits upon our infinite God.