The Jealous Serpent

Hey everybody!

Happy June! I hope you are doing well and enjoying the beginning of summer, kiddos are out of school…let the summer vacations begin!

This month we are continuing with “The Eve Complex” which is a 4-part series. The blog for March was “Did God really say that? The blog for May was Eye Candy.

We’re building again today with the Eve Complex part 3… The Jealous Serpent.

I know you are probably wondering what up with the title for today’s lesson?? You’ve probably never heard of jealous and serpent being used in the same sentence but let’s unpack it.

Lucifer (who we also know as satan or the devil) was originally created as a cherub, an angelic being who was in heaven to worship and serve the purpose of God. He instead became prideful and decided he wanted to be like God. Of course, God wasn’t having it so that’s how satan and the angels he recruited ended up getting kicked out of heaven…never to return.

There was no such thing as sin until satan showed up in the garden of Eden, approached Eve thru the serpent and deceived her because he knew sin would separate them from God. He already knew it was over for him so his position was, “if I can’t have eternity with God, I don’t want them to either.”  Satan knows he messed up big time and he’s jealous of our opportunity to have an eternal relationship with God.

He was jealous in heaven, jealous in the garden, he’s jealous right now. And sadly, jealousy continues to be a HUGE problem in our world. Satan is behind it but his mission is still the same. He’s eternally miserable and looking for as much company as he can get.

We’re all susceptible at any moment to fall prey to jealously and envy. Anyone can be jealous of you and you can be jealous of anyone… nobody’s exempt.

Jealousy, envy, comparison and competition are cut from the same cloth. It starts when we feel like there is something someone else has that we don’t, something is being withheld from us that we want, or if we think someone is a threat to our relationships. Jealousy is the one thing that tears relationships apart, keeps us at odds with another and causes us to be envious of people we could benefit from.

Jealousy that’s not handled on the front end will make you do some crazy stuff!  There is an evil and dangerous spirit behind jealously.

Rarely do people ever admit that they are jealous of you…that’s not just something people typically say out loud. But if you watch their actions and pay close attention to their conversation when they’re around, you’ll will see it and hear it Because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

James 3:14-16 leaves no room for doubt concerning how evil jealously is

James 3:14-16 (TLB)

14. And by all means don’t brag about being wise and good if you are bitter and jealous and selfish; that is the worst sort of lie.
15. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, inspired by the devil.
16. For wherever there is jealousy or selfish ambition, there will be disorder and every other kind of evil.

Being jealous almost comes natural when we don’t know who we are , when we listen to insecurity that’s whispering in our ear that we are not enough compared somebody else and when we allow inadequacy to show us that we don’t have as much as they do. When our identity is not rooted in Christ, we will always envy other people, their possessions, their relationships and be intimidated by their success.

So instead of wasting time being envious or jealous, we have to start working on ourselves, find out who we are, the good, the bad, the ugly. God is not going to look the other way and still bless us in certain areas of our lives while we are harboring these sins. He offers freedom but it starts with acknowledging where we are.

Ever notice…the people you’re jealous of are thriving and are enjoying life? Jealousy destroys us not them.

Proverbs 14:30 (NLT)

30. A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.

I will close with this….

Envy and jealousy never end well nor does it produce anything positive in our lives. We can waste years and precious time with our eyes and heart in the wrong place. None of us will ever have the same thing, be like anyone else, some will have more, some will have less. But the beauty is, we all have one thing in common. We’ve been given this wonderful privilege to have a relationship with Christ and spend eternity with Him. Satan is jealous of that because you and I have an opportunity that he will never have again. So, the next time you feel envy or jealousy trying to creep into your thoughts, recognize it for what it really is.

It’s coming from your enemy, the devil, who knows that God will never change his mind about him…. he’s just hoping he can cause you miss out on God’s best…any way he can…including jealousy…don’t let him!

Please feel free to leave a comment if this blog resonates with you. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Also join me on my YouTube channel, Lessons with Leslie. There is a new video every Friday and also the Lessons with Leslie Podcast is available every first and third Friday.

Thanks for coming back and hanging out with me. I love it when you do!

I’ll chat with you in July.

I celebrate and appreciate you my fellow Party of ONE!

God’s best always,

Leslie