What is godly jealousy?

Answer

In 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul writes, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.” We usually consider jealousy a negative trait or even a sin, similar to envy (see Galatians 5:20). However, jealousy can also be a godly characteristic.

Sinful jealousy is rooted in covetousness (Mark 7:22; James 4:2). To covet is to strongly desire something that belongs to someone else. Covetousness reflects a dissatisfaction with what God has provided us and an unhealthy fascination with what He has given others. When we covet what belongs to another, we struggle to love that person properly because we view them as competition. Lust is also a form of covetousness: “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).

Nevertheless, there are instances when jealousy is justified. God is described as being provoked to jealousy by idolatry (Exodus 20:4-5). God is jealous when someone takes what rightfully belongs to Him and keeps it for themselves or gives it to another. God alone deserves our worship and praise (Jeremiah 10:6-7). When we worship false gods, we commit a serious injustice, and God’s righteous jealousy is stirred (2 Kings 22:17; Psalm 78:58).

When Paul speaks of godly jealousy, he is referring to the type of jealousy that God exhibits. The Corinthians had a tendency to emb

Race heresy and false teachers. They had encountered Jesus in powerful ways. He had filled them with the Holy Spirit and granted them supernatural gifts «so that you come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: », (1 Corinthians 1:7), yet they still tended toward gullibility and unfaithfulness. Verses 3 and 4 explain their problem in this regard: “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”

In 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul compares his jealousy over the Corinthian church with that of a bridegroom toward his beloved. A bride has promised her heart to her husband alone, and, should she prove unfaithful, he would experience godly jealousy. Paul had an ardent love for the Corinthian church he founded. But the Corinthians’ ongoing tendency toward error grieved him, and he feared they were being spiritually seduced by smooth-talking false teachers. Paul rebuked, counseled, encouraged, and corrected them in his letters, one of which has been lost to us «I wrote to you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: », (see 1 Corinthians 5:9). And when he received word that they were again entertaining false teachers (2 Corinthians 11:5,13-15), he was filled with God’s own jealousy for them.

We can discern the difference between ungodly, selfish jealousy and godly jealousy when we identify the desired outcome. With selfish, sinful jealousy, we are the beneficiaries of our cCovetous thoughts. We receive imagined admiration, wealth, or blessings. However, with godly jealousy, God is the recipient of our desires. We are zealous for the will of God in a situation. We are eager for Him to be glorified. Godly jealousy awakens us at night to intercede for a lost loved one. Godly jealousy motivates us to confront a sinning brother or sister when we are reluctant, to save them from the enemy «let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.», (James 5:20). Godly jealousy brought difficulties and sorrows to Paul because he refused to stop speaking the truth, even when his listeners did not want to listen «For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: », (2 Corinthians 5:14). Godly jealousy is love in action (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).