Be Still And Know

Proverbs 27:4 Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous. The Bible introduces us to lots of jealous people. Most famous among them are Joseph’s brothers. They were so consumed with jealousy that they planned to kill him. Throughout history, jealousy has destroyed many lives, and the writer of Proverbs was fully aware of its terrible power. Jealousy starts slowly and quietly. It begins when we look at someone else and see they have something we don’t. The more we reflect on it, the more we realise there is no reason why they should have more than we’ve got. It isn’t fair. Unchecked, those thoughts flower into feelings of jealousy and rage. When I’ve chatted with people in prison, they have often traced their crime back to thoughts which started quietly and innocently enough but grew into violent actions. We will all, from time to time, have little twinges of envy. The question is: how do we prevent those feelings developing into full-grown, destructive jealousy? The ap