Story of David - Day 26

I Samuel 18:7-9 – “And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 8 And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? 9 And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.”

D. L. Moody once shared a fable about an eagle who was jealous of another eagle's ability to fly higher. The jealous eagle asked a sportsman to shoot down his rival, but the sportsman said he needed feathers to do so. The envious eagle began to pluck his own feathers to provide them to the sportsman. The arrow, however, did not reach the rival eagle, and the envious eagle continued to pull his feathers out until he could no longer fly. The sportsman then killed him.

This story teaches us that jealousy harms only ourselves.

Jealousy is one of the most destructive sinful emotions. When we covet what others have, we set ourselves on a dangerous path. We are essentially telling God that He has done us wrong and that we know better than Him about how our lives should be. Instead of feeling angry or resentful when someone else receives a raise or promotion, we should rejoice and congratulate them.

God expects us to be grateful for what we have instead of envious of others. We should celebrate God's grace instead of complaining about what we lack.