Daily Devotional Acts 13:44-48 – What does the Bible say about jealousy? – Free online Bible Study – Commentary in easy English – Day 571

“On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They begin to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him. Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak to word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For this is what the Lord commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ (Isaiah 49:6)” When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. (Acts 13:44-48)

Jealousy is a strong emotion that leads to hate. We see it in our own government when politicians work against instead of with each other. Their ideas are right and everyone else is wrong. Many times jealousy keeps religious leaders from loving. I’ve been to churches where the senior pastor complains about one of his staff that is getting too popular among the congregation.

In this bit of history, The Pharisees and leaders of the temple contradict and heap abuse on Paul and Barnabas. Jealousy kept them from being their best. Paul also disagreed with the Pharisees, but he took the high road. He told the temple leaders that he had to do God’s will and bring light to the Gentiles. I love that Paul showed his humanity by saying, “If you don’t consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we will turn to the Gentiles.”

Many religious leaders kept their jobs but they lost a part of their congregations to Paul. In essence they were demoted or at best remained the same. Paul, on the other hand, was promoted by God and wrote most of the non-Gospel New Testament. In other Bible stories, Saul was jealous of David and tried to have him killed. God gave David Saul’s kingship. Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him and sold him into slavery. It was Joseph who was promoted to second-in-command by the Pharoah, not his jealous brothers.

We may not realize when we’re being jealous. A sign is that we’re working against people instead of with them. It’s important to discover any jealousy we might have because God doesn’t promote the jealous. When we’re not jealous like Paul and don’t contradict and abuse, God will work with us and make us better versions of ourselves.

Father God, I praise you for bringing light to the Gentiles. Show me, Lord, when I’m being jealous, and help me not to contradict. I want you to mold me into my best self, so I will love and encourage more often, and people will know I am Yours. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Daily Devotional Acts 13:44-48 – What does the Bible say about jealousy? – Free online Bible Study – Commentary in easy English – Day 571

32 thoughts on “Daily Devotional Acts 13:44-48 – What does the Bible say about jealousy? – Free online Bible Study – Commentary in easy English – Day 571

  1. Jealousy is a horrible emotion that leads to hateful feelings. I remember when I was young feeling jealous and feeling the hate that goes along with it. Even when I was young, I knew that I did not like the feeling. When you love someone, I can not understand how you can be jealous of them. Jealousy is in direct contradiction of love. How satisfied are you with your life? If you love your life and are happy, how are you jealous of a friend or a neighbor? I try to be happy for people and I try to remember that what we have is just stuff. What is important is not stuff but humility and being grateful. There will always be people with more than I have and there will always be people with less than I have. I believe that God wants me to focus on who I am and being the best version of me that I can be.

    1. I don’t think I’ve ever been jealous of people’s stuff. When the kids were young and we struggled to pay the mortgage, I was jealous of people’s ability to take their families to other countries. I wanted to create those kind of memories for my family. But we have a lot of good memories of good times in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina, and our one vacation to Central America was bittersweet. I now praise God for the low-budget memories we were able to create that less fortunate families would consider extravagant.

  2. When Drew was downsized from Kodak I was so envious (I guess that is jealousy) of people who didn’t have to worry about paying their bills and mortgage. We had tight money times in our marriage over the years, but it was never like that. I kept feeling that if one thing went wrong we could be homeless. I have always given God the glory for getting us through those times. I would look back at the month and wonder how we got all the bills paid. It truly was a God thing. The whole situation gave me a different perspective on people going through tough times. I am so very blessed to not have to worry about how the bills will be paid. I try never to take that for granted and thank God for the blessings He has given me and my family.

    I don’t think it makes a difference where you vacation with your family, overseas or in the USA. It matters that your family is all together, enjoying and loving each other. Those times are precious, and we have both been blessed that we were able to take our families to places and create special memories.

    1. Isn’t it wonderful that God brings us through tough times and we learn to trust Him. We were both jealous at times when we were young and we’ve outgrown those feelings knowing that God blesses us. When we look back at our lives and accomplishments we can see God’s favor on us. Blessings Sis, Jody

    1. I have been blogging for three years. Thank you for your encouragement and coming to my website. A sign of jealousy is working against people instead of with them. It is important to recognize jealousy because it will keep us from being our best. God doesn’t promote the jealous. I prayed for you and your family today and hope you know how wide and long and high and deep God’s love is for you. Blessings, Jody

    1. I have been blogging for three years. Thank you for your encouragement and coming to my website. A sign of jealousy is working against people instead of with them. It is important to recognize jealousy because it will keep us from being our best. God doesn’t promote the jealous. I prayed for you and your family today and hope you know how wide and long and high and deep God’s love is for you. Blessings, Jody

    1. I have been blogging for three years. Thank you for your encouragement and coming to my website. A sign of jealousy is working against people instead of with them. It is important to recognize jealousy because it will keep us from being our best. God doesn’t promote the jealous. I prayed for you and your family today and hope you know how wide and long and high and deep God’s love is for you. Blessings, Jody

    1. I would love for you to share my blog with your twitter group. Thank you for your encouragement and coming to my website. A sign of jealousy is working against people instead of with them. It is important to recognize jealousy because it will keep us from being our best. God doesn’t promote the jealous. I prayed for you and your family today and hope you know how wide and long and high and deep God’s love is for you. Blessings, Jody

  3. You really make it appear really easy along with your presentation however I to find this topic to be really one thing that I think I might by no means understand. It kind of feels too complicated and extremely vast for me. I am looking ahead on your next submit, Ill attempt to get the dangle of it!

    1. The Bible is difficult to understand for some. I would be happy to answer any questions you might have to the best of my ability. My blog is for the purpose of making the Bible easy to understand. Thank you for your encouragement and coming to my website. A sign of jealousy is working against people instead of with them. It is important to recognize jealousy because it will keep us from being our best. God doesn’t promote the jealous. I prayed for you and your family today and hope you know how wide and long and high and deep God’s love is for you. Blessings, Jody

    1. Thank you for your encouragement and coming to my website. A sign of jealousy is working against people instead of with them. It is important to recognize jealousy because it will keep us from being our best. God doesn’t promote the jealous. I prayed for you and your family today and hope you know how wide and long and high and deep God’s love is for you. Blessings, Jody

  4. Superb blog you have here but I was wondering if you knew of any message boards that cover the same topics talked about in this article? I’d really like to be a part of online community where I can get feedback from other knowledgeable individuals that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thank you!

    1. No. I would like to be part of a group also so let me know if you find any. Thank you for your encouragement and coming to my website. A sign of jealousy is working against people instead of with them. It is important to recognize jealousy because it will keep us from being our best. God doesn’t promote the jealous. I prayed for you and your family today and hope you know how wide and long and high and deep God’s love is for you. Blessings, Jody

  5. Its like you read my mind! You seem to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with a few pics to drive the message home a bit, but instead of that, this is great blog. An excellent read. I’ll certainly be back.

    1. Thank you for your comments, encouragement and coming to my website. A sign of jealousy is working against people instead of with them. It is important to recognize jealousy because it will keep us from being our best. God doesn’t promote the jealous. I prayed for you and your family today and hope you know how wide and long and high and deep God’s love is for you. Blessings, Jody

    1. I am looking into using Twitter, and I will do so soon. Thank you for your encouragement and coming to my website. A sign of jealousy is working against people instead of with them. It is important to recognize jealousy because it will keep us from being our best. God doesn’t promote the jealous. I prayed for you and your family today and hope you know how wide and long and high and deep God’s love is for you. Blessings, Jody

    1. Yes. Thank you for your encouragement and coming to my website. A sign of jealousy is working against people instead of with them. It is important to recognize jealousy because it will keep us from being our best. God doesn’t promote the jealous. I prayed for you and your family today and hope you know how wide and long and high and deep God’s love is for you. Blessings, Jody

  6. Hi, i read your blog from time to time and i own a similar one and i was just curious if you get a lot of spam responses? If so how do you reduce it, any plugin or anything you can suggest? I get so much lately it’s driving me mad so any help is very much appreciated.

    1. I just delete the spam and pray for God to take it away. Thank you for your encouragement and coming to my website. A sign of jealousy is working against people instead of with them. It is important to recognize jealousy because it will keep us from being our best. God doesn’t promote the jealous. I prayed for you and your family today and hope you know how wide and long and high and deep God’s love is for you. Blessings, Jody

  7. Hey! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice from an established blog. Is it very hard to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about making my own but I’m not sure where to start. Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Appreciate it

    1. I have a website designer, Brian Kraft. http://www.lightwayweb.com He is very reasonable and his prices for websites begin at only $350. He is easy to work with. Thank you for your encouragement and coming to my website. A sign of jealousy is working against people instead of with them. It is important to recognize jealousy because it will keep us from being our best. God doesn’t promote the jealous. I prayed for you and your family today and hope you know how wide and long and high and deep God’s love is for you. Blessings, Jody

    1. Thank you for your encouragement and coming to my website. A sign of jealousy is working against people instead of with them. It is important to recognize jealousy because it will keep us from being our best. God doesn’t promote the jealous. I prayed for you and your family today and hope you know how wide and long and high and deep God’s love is for you. Blessings, Jody

    1. Thank you for your encouragement and coming to my website. A sign of jealousy is working against people instead of with them. It is important to recognize jealousy because it will keep us from being our best. God doesn’t promote the jealous. I prayed for you and your family today and hope you know how wide and long and high and deep God’s love is for you. Blessings, Jody

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