Before answering your question, it may be helpful to consider the difference between envy and jealousy. Envy is resentment about another person’s blessings and wanting those blessings for yourself, which is always sinful. Jealousy is a fear of losing something that you possess to another person. Jealousy can be sinful if it is selfish, controlling, or leads to bitterness. Jealousy can be righteous if it is seeking to protect something holy, such as God desiring undivided devotion from mankind.

God speaks of Himself as a jealous God when He gave the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel. We read in Exodus 20:1-6, “And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”

God is righteous to be jealous of wholehearted devotion from all people. He is our Creator and the Lord Jesus has died on the cross to make eternal salvation available to all. God gives each of us physical life and has provided a way to have eternal life through repentance and faith in Christ. As our Creator, God knows what is best for us. Because He loves each of us immensely, He passionately wants us to experience abundant life and full joy. It really bothers Him when He sees people rejecting Him and trying to find fulfillment elsewhere, because He knows that other ways lead to destruction. We read in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

God is not only a jealous God, but that is one of His names! We read in Exodus 34:14, “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”

A follow-up question to the one asked could be: Is it possible for you and me to be jealous in a righteous way? Yes! We see an example in the Apostle Paul, who was jealous about the purity of the church at Corinth. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11:2-3, “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” Paul’s jealousy was fueled by love for the Corinthians, just as God’s jealousy for our hearts is fueled by love.

May the Lord search our hearts to cause us to be jealous in righteous ways, instead of our natural inclination toward ungodly jealousy. As we focus on Christ, He will help us to love what He loves and desire to protect what he values.  (DJ)  (710.6)