Love is Not Jealous

How many times have I heard women and teenagers say, "Oh, he's just jealous because he loves me." I used to think that too. Then I discovered that jealousy is a form of possession and when he is jealous he is telling the world that you are his possession and they cannot have any of your time, concern, social time, etc. You are HIS (kind of like a dog, cat, cow).

God says love is not jealous. Love wants what is best for the object loved. Isolation is not what is best for anyone, more or less for someone we claim to love.

You might be thinking "Well, didn't God say He was a jealous God?" Yes He did...twice, once in Exodus and once in Deuteronomy. But our jealousy and His jealousy are two different things. I have heard Beth Moore say over and over again that God is jealous FOR us not OF us. What's the difference you ask. The difference is that God is jealous for us to keep us from the harm sin will do to us and in order to bless us with the "cattle on a thousand hills." For God, jealousy allows Him to give us the very best of what He has to give. His jealousy, like His love, wants what is best for the one loved.

But with man, to be jealous is to limit the one loved. Oh, yes, my jealous boyfriends told me that what they were doing was for my good but I soon found out it only benefited them. So THEY wouldn't have to worry about where I was and with whom. I had a boyfriend once that got jealous of a guy I was with even though the entire campus knew he didn't like girls. That was not in my best interest, that was an attempt to control my life in such a way that he could feel secure.

God loves you with a love that allows you to make your own decisions, right, wrong, or indifferent. He is alway there even if you make the wrong decision. He will not leave you nor forsake you. Can you say that about your jealous significant other?

One last note. I volunteered in an abused women's shelter for seven years. I have heard terrifying stories of what jealousy can lead a man or woman to do. So when that sweet young thing tells you that they are jealous just because they love you, run straight to God who is jealous for you, not of you. I did and I love my life and what God has helped me to become. What did he help me become? Me.