Love does not Envy

And I said college was a waste of time! This, my friends, is where my year of going to Christian college pays off! Interpretation of the bible had to be one of my favorite classes. I learned so much, and I was encouraged to dig deeper into the Word to find my truth. It taught me to really look at the meanings behind the words and why the interpreters chose to use the words they did. Sometimes, it really makes me questions why they used the word they did when translating the bible. Corinthians 13 is a good reason I do.

In many translations you will read "Love is not jealous," but that just doesn't sit well in me. The word I think Paul wanted to use was "Envy," because how can love not be jealous when, after all, our God is a jealous God! (Exodus 20:5) And if love is not jealous and God is love, the Scriptures totally contradict them self. But again, it's all in the translation and who translated it. The way I see it, of course love is jealous; just like God is jealous for the heart's of His people, should a wife not be jealous for the love of her husband?

The word "Jealousy" and "Envy" are two totally different things and mean two totally different emotions. Yes, they may sound very similar, and they often are used interchangeably; but more often than not they are used incorrectly. The way I see it, the word "jealous" should not be used in this scripture at all. As Wikipedia so beautiful puts it, the word "Jealous" means to fear losing something that one possesses to another person (a loved one in the prototypical form), while the word "Envy" is the pain or frustration caused by another person having something that one does not have oneself.

I have shockingly discovered that women are the most jealous creatures on earth! I don't care who you are or where you go to church, every woman has this gene, or whatever you want to call it, burned into their being. Some may display it more than others... but it's there. For example, when women buy the most up-to-date clothing and buy the most fashionable purses, who do you think they are trying to impress? Don't think for one moment its for their husbands or significant other... we are dressing to impress other women, our girlfriends! We want our friends to think we look trendy and cute, or think how lucky she is to have hair that will go wherever she wants it to. Ok, so am I the only one?

Unless you are a woman much like my mother, who truly believes that since she is beautiful on the inside, (which she is) there's no need to worry about the outside. She is who she is and she's proud of it! But, I know at some point in her life she did care about what cloths she wore and how she did her hair. But she will always be a woman who is happy enough on the inside to not worry about what PEOPLE think of her on the outside. She is the most amazing, talented, funny, caring person I know. But she has her moments too where jealousy hits. We all have different things that make us tick or cause an emotion in us.

Jealousy has always been an issue for me. I think it's triggered by low self esteem, but I'm learning each day that God only give you what you can handle. I don't need what the other girl has down the street, who knows, maybe she wants what I have! People always want what they don't have... but maybe if we looked at it as be thankful for what you do have, we wouldn't lead such jealous lives. You never know what a person has until you know the heart of that person.