Jealousy: The Most Dangerous Emotion

Jealousy: The Most Dangerous Emotion

In his book The One Year Uncommon Life Daily Challenge, Tony Dungy warns against the jealousy he sees in professional sports. Dungy says, “It’s a challenge at times. Each year thirty-one teams watch the Super Bowl champion—the goal they also shared but fell short of.”^a

So many of us struggle with this dangerous emotion. We tend to see what other people have and lose sight of all the good things in our own lives. We see our neighbor buying a new car, or someone else getting promoted instead of us, and we wonder why we didn’t get what he or she did. This is the way life goes.

We went to a friend’s house to watch the Super Bowl one year. My friend and his wife had just finished turning their backyard into a wonderful outdoor living space. It had a pool, hot tub, pergola, wood-burning fireplace, dining table, seating group, and Ping-Pong table. Another friend who was there looked at me quickly and said, “Roger, I need a sermon on coveting, right now.”

You see, she was saying, “I’m jealous, and I want what they have.” We laughed, because she said what I was thinking. But remember, if you harbor jealousy in your heart, it will begin to affect your attitude toward those who have what you want. It will lead you to discontentment, leaving you ungrateful for what you have been given. It will cause you to live for the wrong things, and you will miss so many of the simple joys of life.

Proverbs 27:4 says, “Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.” Listen to Coach Dungy’s counsel as we conclude our time together today: “Never let jealousy take hold. It always leaves a bad taste in your mouth.”^b

Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.

Proverbs 27:4