“A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones” (Proverbs 14:30)
A wise bear once said, “Only you can prevent forest fires.” Although these words are spoken in a literal sense to advertise and promote caution when putting out camp fires in the woods, it can also be applied figuratively when it concerns human emotion. In a similar manner, the Master made it abundantly clear that “out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19). In addressing what truly corrupts man’s heart, our Lord sought to teach us the importance of self-control. It is in this sense that we can “prevent forest fires” in our relationships with our fellow peers. It is inarguable that managing the enormous amount of different emotions we have everyday can become a difficult challenge, but it is just as threatening if we do not learn to find the required equilibrium for them. Allowing our human emotions to run unchecked will create tension to our relationships with others, but it will also begin to decay our soul day by day. Let us not make the mistake of believing that certain emotions are sinful and others are not. Falling into this folly is admitting indirectly that God did not create man perfect, since it was He who created man with emotion. Therefore, the key is not to feel, but rather learn how to channel our emotions properly, void of sin. Certainly this is easier said than done, especially when addressing the emotion of jealousy. In another proverb addressing this emotion, King Solomon writes: “Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent, but who is able to stand before jealousy” (Proverbs 27:4)? It is incredible to observe that the king considers jealousy more dangerous than wrath and anger. The poet’s revelation of how unstable a heart guided by the malice of jealousy can be must be understood appropriately. If applied correctly, zeal can be very beneficial to anyone. Let us recall that our heavenly Father warns His children about idolatry and reminds us that “I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5). Knowing that our God is “a jealous” God proves that this emotion is not evil in essence, but it can be contaminated. When we read in God’s inspired word about His jealousy, notice that He speaks about it in a justified, protective manner. He seeks to save His creation from the sinful action of spiritual infidelity. Undoubtedly, Solomon is not speaking of the same type of jealousy in his proverb. Instead, we learn that he speaks of a heart that has been poisoned by an envious type of jealousy. This defiled form of an emotion is the one that he exemplifies as the root cause for a man’s bones to decay. His illustration is that a man who is envious and jealous of his neighbor, is slowly consumed by these emotions. He begins to dictate his actions by these emotions and not rationale. They consume him to the point where he loses all sight of what is righteous before the Lord. The apostle Paul also spoke of this menace: “For I bear them witness that they have zeal of God, but not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:2). Paul acknowledges that the zeal the Jews had for the law of Moses was an admirable one, but regrettably it lacked understanding for it to be fully like God. The Jews were passionate about their nation and zealously defended Moses’ law. What the apostle notes is that they were doing that blinded by envy. He further proves this by repeating to them that “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness” (Romans 10:4). This brings to memory the motive behind their assassination of Jesus Christ and His disciples. Because of their misplaced zeal, the Jews despised Jesus and His doctrine because they did not comprehend the necessity of its removal. However, their misplaced zeal was an emotion that the bitterly jealous Pharisees and Sadducees were able to manipulate in their favor. It was by this manipulation that they were able to sway the crowd against Jesus, demanding His crucifixion. Because Jesus so often questioned their misguided interpretation of the Scriptures, instead of embracing His plea of repentance they loathed Him for it. Their envy and jealousy of the Master irreversibly consumed them to the point that in their polluted mind the only fathomable solution was to eliminate the threat by public murder. Observe how the unhinged emotions of these men led them to a cruel and erratic conclusion. Hence the purpose of Paul’s explanation to them about the error of their zeal. One must note that the apostle Paul was the best man to teach this lesson to the Jews in Rome. Remember that his heart was once corrupted by violent zeal too, until he was taught about the error of his ways. His passion for defending what he believed was God’s righteousness, was veiling his eyes from the truth (Acts 26:9-21). Most likely having in memory his deplorable actions of persecution toward his now brethren, we are able to sense Paul’s plea to his co-citizens of Israel to digress from the deadly path their jealousy was taking them to. The apostle understood that it was due to God’s grace that his ungodly zeal did not consume him beyond repair (1st Timothy 1:12-15). It is wise to understand that the jealousy that pollutes a man’s heart is the one laced with envy. It can be easily detected when uneasiness over our brother’s success begins to feel like a threat to us. This demonic type of jealousy is defined as a fear of losing affection or position; a resentful or bitter rivalry produced by envy (The American Heritage Dictionary, pg. 457). If ever these symptoms begin to appear, let us find spiritual inner strength and remove them from our minds. Allowing these wicked thoughts to linger is granting them full access to control the direction of our actions. When our Lord taught what defiles man, He was sharing this knowledge with the Pharisees from Jerusalem (Matthew 15:1). Unfortunately, they chose to allow the shrieking voice of envy and jealousy to drain out Christ’s soothing voice of love and mercy. Because this was so, they took His words to be defiant to their “authority” and did not permit themselves to accept that Jesus’ true intention was to heal them from this poison. Witnessing through Holy Scriptures the devastation uncontrolled emotions have in the heart of a man, it is truly wise to “keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).