Coping With Jealousy

For you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

1 Corinthians 3:3 (ESV)

How have I dealt with jealousy? Sometimes well and sometimes not.

Let’s start with the not. I had something someone wanted. A gift from God. An older, godly woman advised me to apologize. Apologize? For something I had been given? I talked with my husband, and he agreed that it didn’t seem right to accommodate jealousy with an apology.

In retrospect, although I was sympathetic, I never specifically said I was sorry the other person didn’t have what I did.

A soft answer turns away wrath…

Proverbs 15:1a (ESV)

Decades later, for excellent reasons, I was given an heirloom that another wanted. Very much. By then, I was more savvy concerning jealousy and knew the heirloom would be a forever barrier. I wanted my relationship more, and so, I gave the heirloom to another relative, who met the requirements of the giver.

Another time, I confronted the person and later cried. Unfortunately, I’ve learned that coping with another’s jealousy is hard.