Jealousy

Many of us, throughout the course of our lives, have felt jealous. Whether it is because someone had more money then you, or cuter clothes then you, or the cuter boyfriend then you. I know for me, I am jealous every time I walk into my school's bible study. At our bible study, we have people who get up and share what's God is doing in their lives and I would so love to do that, but so far this school year, I haven't done it yet. So one day after the bible study I was flipping through the bible and I found this verse.

 1 Corinthians 12:14-20 says, "For the body is not made up of one part but many. If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be a part of the body. And if an ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be/ If the whole body was an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arrange the parts in the body, everyone of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is there are many parts, but one body." I think this verse lays it out clearly that, we can't be all the same part. God has each put us in our parts of the body, so that it would benefit the body of Christ.

Now it is common fact that a speaker speaking to no one isn't telling anyone what he is saying, and an audience without a speaker isn't receiving anything. In the case of me presenting in my bible study, maybe God created me to be a part of the audience right now. I so want to be up there speaking, but if everyone was a speaker, then there would be no audience. God knows how much I want to speak, but if he has me in the audience, then that is fine, because I know that he has a plan for me to speak in the future. Just knowing that I am helping the body be sitting and listening, is rewarding enough, and is no reason for me to be jealous of the speaker.

So where ever in your life you might feel jealous, just know that God has you right where you should be. And even though you may not have a big role in helping the body, you can know that you are in fact helping. God would not set you in a place where you are useless, even though it can seem like that at times. So ask God how you can get over your jealous thoughts, and start helping the body of Christ.