I’m the kind of person that do not like to be on the spotlight, I like to move behind the scenes. I have twin brothers that look exactly like me and some are struck with our resemblance; their names: envy and covetousness. I’d like to tell you more about me!

You see, the very first thing I must confess is that I’m unloving. For those who’ve studied us carefully (me and love), they like to say: ‘they are at loggerheads with each other’, referring to us. I like to speak to the straying mind, whispering empty lies to them. I whisper a lot of half-truths, true facts that are unlovingly misinterpreted and like to give my hearer a sense that I’m waking them back to reality.

The sentence that comes most from my mouth is: ‘You should be having that, instead of him/her!’ I never invite my audience to celebrate that good thing that is happening to others and in this, I differentiate myself from love. I invite my twin brothers to come and help me speak effectively to our audience and the end is our audience is left with others good friends of mine: fear, insecurity, guilt, anxiety and teaming up with them strengthens us to a point of breaking the person. If the person isn’t leaving quickly; we call the stronger in our company: despair or depression or maybe an even stronger one after that: suicide; that is if we have long withhold the person with our shackles. Things don’t get to this point usually but suffice to say that I still move in subtle ways.

I have to say that my aim is to be an albatross around people’s neck, drowning them in the stormy deluge of my eloquence and clouding the eye of my listener, so that he can’t clearly see their way, obstructing the vision of the glory of God. I get believers off track when I succeed to turn their eyes off Christ, turning their eyes off his grace, mercy, providence, … while making them believe that they should be having that car that some old classmate just bought or that vacation trip that their co-worker just went on (from the pics posted on Facebook, or Instagram; one of my favourite tools by the way)instead of them.

The schemes I devise against the people of God are to make them forget the grace of God that made them who they are, in spite of the wrong they did in the past and fill their mind with my voice, filling them with my negative thoughts. See, I make them trample underfoot God’s grace and provision in their very lives while making them question his grace and his provision because they ‘should be’ having that thing they so crave for to be fulfilled and so defile God’s glory. While believing that they are less favored because of something, I and others like me make them forget that their life’s story is being written, God showing his immense glory in ordinary ways and extraordinary ways. God’s glory is so immense to be confined to one pattern, to one way of displaying it; that’s why people meet different situations and in all those, God’s infinite glory is manifested. Whether rich or poor, God manifests himself and they forget to be content and thank God in every circumstance.

The sure thing about me is that I’m usually backed by selfishness and the seeking of human-self- glory, I am never detached. I’m far from love or faith because I speak to those who don’t know or forgot that “no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Ps: 84:11). If faith was everybody’s best friend, I’d have none to speak to because even to those who are going in evil and hard times, faith would be always close shouting- making my voice unheard-: ‘You meant evil for me, but God meant it for good’ (Gen50:20) ‘and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose’ (Rom8:28)

People underestimate me but Holy Writ suggests the opposite: ‘jealousy is fierce as the grave’ (Song of Solomon 8:6), ‘wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy’ (Prov27:4). Scripture suggests the same concerning my twin brothers (e.g. ‘Envy makes the bone rot’ Proverbs 14:30) but no matter how strong we are, God has not left humans alone to make war with us. We hate the fact that God in his love knows how to meet those under our yoke, he himself will find them where they are to free them. He will surround them with shouts of deliverance (Ps32:7), speaking faithful and unshakable promises of his care and his presence through dark times, ‘he will never leave me no forsake me’- kind of promises. Even if my presence is justified (an unfaithful lover, …) and I have a right to be present and destroy; God is still greater than me in the facts that his voice is greater than mine and it pierces deeper than anyone’s voices, his life giving voice will heal all deadly venom we might spread. When God says ‘I’m your shepherd, you shall not want’ (Ps23:1) he’s able to heal and bring the person in his shadow, where our voices can’t be heard thus amazing me with his merciful dealings with them.

There is a holy version of myself, but that one works hand in hand with love; love divine. Holy jealousy is there in the case when a human being has chosen a particular sin (as an example), when infinite joy is on the other hand because holy jealousy understand that it is insanity when one man looks for the pleasure of happiness and joy in sinful broken cisterns that cannot hold water when that man could have chosen God; the fountain of living waters (Jer2:13). Holy jealousy is from God and this is a communicable character to all those people that love genuinely, not wanting anyone to fall into the firm grips of sin.

If people knew and were constantly aware about holy jealousy, I would not have any audience because they would not have a reason to listen to me knowing there is a God who is jealous for them, ultimately wanting the best of best for his children!