Jealousy

I've been doing a word study throughout the Bible of "Envy." It's been good but also left me wondering what the difference between envy and jealousy are. Often they are both included when a bunch of sins are listed. So, now after a little bit of digging, I have discovered some definitions.

Envy: Wanting what someone else has.
Jealousy: Liking something so much that you don't want to share it.

Most of the verses containing "jealous" have to do with God being jealous for his people. He does not want to share when it comes to his children. They are his and his alone. All other gods and idols better step off. Or, jealous is also used in reference toward God's people being "zealous" for him. I don't know why zealous is listed in my concordance with jealous, but it must be related (Haven't dug that deep yet).

Bottom line, the only thing we should be jealous for is God. God is the only thing we should like so much that we don't want to share (Evangelism. I know. Just bear with me). If I like anything so much that I don't want to share it, that's idolatry. For me, I love realizing how horrible a sin really is so that when I'm tempted with it, Satan can't convince me that it's not that big of a deal. Hopefully, the next time it comes on I'll be able to remember the ugly underbelly of this beast, resist the temptation, and watch the enemy run in the opposite direction.