Wii Wrestle with Jealousy

If you missed the service this weekend, let me recap the point that I made by giving away an Wii.

This weekend I spoke once again about our heart and how there are heart issues that we need to be aware of. The topic for this weekend was jealousy. We get jealous of peoples: abilities, wealth, homes, cars, looks, etc. When we are jealous of another person and what that person has, the truth is, our problem isn't with that person or that possession, it's a heart issue. The way we know that it's not a problem with the person is because they can't do anything to solve our problem. The only thing the other person can do to help your jealousy issue is to fail; we tend to feel better when the person we are envious of "falls on their face", which really just magnifies the fact that you have a problem with jealousy.

To prove my point that jealousy isn't about a possession or a person, I had three volunteers who wanted a Nintendo Wii to come up on stage. This is the point at which Rick, Taylor, and Lori came up. I handed Taylor a gift, and when he opened it he got a, highly sought after, Nintendo Wii. The next person to get a gift was Lori, Lori got a $50 gift card, it's not a Nintendo Wii, but not bad. Finally, Rick opened his gift and he got a lousy banana.

If you remove me from the equation the only thing each person can do is look at what the other person has. But in this scenario if any of the 3 are dissatisfied it would be ridiculous to be upset at each other. If they are dissatisfied with their gift they should take it up with the gift giver - me, in this case. They can’t get upset with each other; how silly would it be for Lori to not get along with Taylor just because he was given a Wii? And poor Rick, who got the banana, would have a hard time having a good attitude not because of Taylor or Lori but because of me. The only person they can even get upset with is the person giving the gifts. Worse yet, what if I had decided to give the younger person the banana and give the Wii to the adult? Can you imagine how upset people would have been? "That's just not right, you've got to give the Wii to the kid!" No I don't, I'm the gift giver - I choose who gets what... and if you don't like it you can't get mad at the recipient.

Do you know who your real issue is with when you are jealous or envious? God. Jealousy says, "God owes me." God owes me: that ability, that car, that job, that kind of home, that kind of family, those parents, etc.." Your jealous heart isn't about that person or that possession, you think God owes you, you think God ripped you off, and that's not fair! But God never claims to be fair. God is the gift giver and gives to whomever He wants and He gives whatever He wants. And it becomes our job to celebrate the goodness of God in other people's lives, that celebration will break the power of jealousy in our hearts.