Righteous jealousy is not because we don’t love people. It’s because we love God and His glory more than people, and when our hearts are on this trajectory only then will we will demonstrate the greatest and most righteous love possible for all people.
Sermon, Childish or Childlike? 2 Corinthians 11:1-6, January 11, 2015.
The marital relationship may be the best way to help us understand the difference between sinful jealousy and righteous jealousy. I can be jealous over my relationship with my wife in a wrong way or in a right way. For example, if I feel resentment or anger merely because I see her talking to another man, that would be self-centered possessiveness and unreasonable domination – in other words, sinful jealousy. It would stem from my own selfishness or insecurity rather than from my commitment to her and to what is right. But, on the other hand, if I see some man actually trying to alienate my wife’s affections and seduce her, then I have reason to be righteously jealous. God gave her to me to be my wife. Her body is mine just as my body is hers. I have the exclusive right to enjoy her fully, and for someone else to assume that right would be a violation of God’s holy standards. I am zealous for the exclusiveness and purity of our marriage, and that is a righteous jealousy.
A Jealous God, www.bible.org, Copyright ©1996-2005, All rights reserved.
If God, by virtue of His essential being, must be jealous for His uniqueness and His supremacy above all, then those who know Him and want to please Him should be just as jealous for Him. If we are serious about our relationship with Him, we shall exalt Him above everyone and everything else in our lives; we shall be absolutely dedicated to living for His honor; we shall be zealously committed to doing His will. The primary goal of our lives will be to show the world that our God is the one true and living God – that He alone makes life meaningful and worthwhile.
A Jealous God, www.bible.org, Copyright ©1996-2005, All rights reserved.