The sin of jealousy is often tolerated in Christian circles—but our lenience doesn’t make it any less serious. The Bible is clear: Jealousy is a grave matter. In a talk given to seminary students called “Regarding Jealousy,” Alistair Begg surveys jealousy’s consequences, which can only be overcome as we acknowledge our transgression before God and keep our eyes fixed on Christ:
Jealousy rots your bones. I didn’t make that up; it actually says it in the Bible. Proverbs 14:30: “A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.” That’s a graphic picture, isn’t it? A picture of decay, a picture of something that is taking place on the inside and not immediately apparent on the outside. …
Secondly, it gives birth to unwarranted anger and suspicion. … It’s not enough to say that “I have x.” The problem is “I have x, but you have y.” And if I can’t live with the fact that you have y, then my x means pretty little to me at all. …
Thirdly, it breeds a destructively critical spirit. … Daniel, remember, is described as the one who was distinguished above all. When the political structures were being put in place, Daniel was exemplary, and he stood out above the rest. And we read, “And his colleagues sought to find ground for a complaint against him.” … And it became, then, the focus of their agenda to make sure they could find a way to topple him from his perch. And at root was the problem of jealousy.
… Fourthly, it ruins your spiritual appetite. … 1 Peter 2:1: “Put away all malice … deceit … hypocrisy … envy and … slander.” Here we are at the respectable sins of evangelicalism. Here are the things that are tolerated in our fellowships. Here are the things that we are tempted to skip over and excuse in ourselves routinely, because somehow or another, nobody can see that my bones are rotting. … It will come out in the end! Those closest to us will be aware of it. …
Finally, … jealousy is the forerunner to all kinds of chaos. … James chapter 3: “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every [evil] practice” (James 3:16).
So, you go into a context where you find chaos, you find disorder, you find evil being tolerated, you’re tripping over lumps on the carpet that should have been dealt with a long time ago, issues that have now become prevalent, perhaps embedded, in the culture of an institution, of a church, of a family, of a group of friends—if you trace it back, there’s a more than even chance that we will get right back to this self-same ugly jealousy.
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