Tag / God is passionate and compassionate

by In Light Of The Cross

Godly Passion and Jealousy

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The Bible clearly teaches us not to be envious or jealous. 

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.Genesis 20:17

NKJV Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies.... Galatians 5:19-20 NKJV

Then why does the Bible portray God as being jealous?

You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, Exodus 20:4-5  NKJV

For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images. Psalm 78:58 NKJV

There are different kinds of jealousy. Paul spoke of a godly jealousy.

For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:2 NKJV 

The jealousy that is spoken against in the Bible is when we want something that does not belong to us. If a man lusts after another man’s wife that is wrong because the woman is not his but belongs to another man. However if the husband loses his wife to another man he has godly jealousy because his wife actually belongs to him and not he other man. By the way this still does not justify a husband getting jealous every time his wife speaks cordially to another brother in church etc., but I digress. Carnal jealousy is when we want what does not belong to us. Godly jealousy is when we want what does belong to us but is taken by someone else. 

God is jealous when His own people choose another god. He is both jealous and passionate because not only do we belong to Him and not the world, but He also knows the world will not love and care for us the way He does. This is why God tells us in Exodus 20:3 that we are not to have any other gods. God knows no other God will love and care for us the way He does. His passion for our welfare demands we have no other gods besides Him. Only He can love us the way we were designed to be loved. We do not belong to the world. We belong to God. See Psalm 24:1. God’s jealousy is not a carnal jealousy where we want what does not belong to us so we can use it to satisfy our lustful passions. God’s jealousy is a goldy jealousy where He does not want to lose what is rightfully His, and His passion is a godly passion for our own wellbeing.

God wants us to stay faithful to Him for our own wellbeing and not because of some carnal jealous ego. The reason we are to have no other gods before us is because God is the only God who can give us the love and wellbeing we need. He is jealous for our welfare and not for Himself. 

You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.

by In Light Of The Cross

4: God is Passionate and Compassionate-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class January 25, 2025.

Main Theme: there are beautiful truths to be garnered from the realization that God’s love for us is a deeply emotional love, but always with the caveat that though God’s love (emotional or otherwise) is perfect, it should not be thought of as identical to emotions as humans experience them.

Read in Class: Psalm 103:13, Isaiah 49:15, and Jeremiah 31:20. Ask the class to identify the common thread in these passages.

Study: What do these depictions convey about the nature and depth of God’s compassion?

Apply: How have you demonstrated God’s love to a son or daughter or other family member, and how has someone in your family demonstrated God’s love to you?

Share: Your friend says that her parents were not loving. How might you be able to help your friend see the compassion of God, even though her parents were unloving?

Read in Class: Hosea 11:1-9. Ask the class to identify the main idea of this passage.

Study: How does the imagery in these verses bring to life the way God loves and cares for His people?

Apply: Anyone who has ever been a parent knows what the lesson is talking about. No other earthly love begins to compare. How does this help us understand the reality of God’s love for us, and what comfort can, and should, we draw from this understanding?

Share: Your friend says its hard to know when to “shake the dust off our feet” (See Matthew 10:14) when you are compassionately and passionately working with a stubborn and wayward soul. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Matthew 9:36, Matthew 23:37 and Mark 1:41. Have the class identify the common thread in these passages.

Study: How do these verses shed light on the way Christ was moved by the plight of people?

Apply: There is no greater example of God’s great compassionate love for us than Jesus Himself—who gave Himself for us in the ultimate demonstration of love. Yet, Christ is not only the perfect image of God. He is also the perfect model of humanity. How can we model our lives after the life of Christ, focusing on the felt needs of others, and, thus, not merely preaching God’s love but showing it in tangible ways?

Share: Your friend says he has been paying the electric bill for his son’s family because his son keeps wasting his money on other things. Your friend wants to be compassionate towards his grandchildren who he does not want to freeze to death, but does not want to keep enabling the son to waste money. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Ask the class to identify the main idea of this passage.

Study:  In what ways does this passage call us to reflect God’s compassionate and amazing love in our relationships with others?

Apply: Why is a death to self and to the selfishness and corruption of our natural hearts the only way to reveal this kind of love? What are the choices that we can make in order to be able to die this death to self?

Share: Your friend points out that while 1 Corinthians 13:4 says love does not envy or get jealous, that Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:2 that he has a godly jealousy. Your friend asks how do you reconcile having a godly jealousy with love never being jealous? What do you tell your friend? See Godly Passion and Jealousy.