The Grinch
Love is not Jealous

MESSAGE:
The Grinch is a petty jerk face (yea, I said it), but he didn’t get that way overnight. According to movie lore, the Whoville citizen wanted the love and acceptance that his classmates were freely giving out to one another. He was shunned and cast aside, spurned by a classmate he had a crush on. He did not hate Christmas for no reason, instead it was jealousy that drove him to be a nasty person.

Jealousy is not a fun feeling. It coerces you to compare what you own and what your neighbor owns. It’s impossible not to compare ourselves to others when our brains are constantly rating and reviewing our circumstances.

Jealous love is twice as harsh as it looks at relationships and demands “fair” and “good” treatment from others. When you are jealous in a relationship you have three awful options: shut down on the person as a punishment, get a new person as a replacement, or force the person to change.

If we use the jealous attitude as the engine for our relationship, we are setting ourselves up for failure. That means the other person needs to love us a specific way or we won’t be complete. Jealousy’s attitude starts with “I deserve….”

But you might wonder why some verses in the Bible call God a jealous person. When God sees his followers worshipping other gods he fights to get back what he lost. Does God need to cool his jets and get a better attitude?

The major difference is that God’s jealousy is for containing and keeping people safe and sheltered by the reality that he is the only God. He is jealous that people are heading toward a fake system and bankrupting themselves.

The important thing to remember is that our jealousy is not love. It’s meant to manipulate and take instead of restore and renew. We must flip the attitude “I deserve this kind of love” to “I can give this kind of love.”

Research: James 3:14-16

How does jealousy create disorder? What other evils can it lead to?

Why would a loving relationship where you get your needs met first be a disaster?

What are some tips to worry less about the things you don’t have and focus on what you can give?This will add you to the email list.