We have all felt the emotional grip that accompanies an attitude of jealousy. You know, when we cast an eye of envy toward someone who is better looking than us, or we might covet the house or car, or, perhaps, the job of another. Or, how about the jealousy we feel when someone pays a little too much attention to the person on whom we have set our affections, maybe our wife, husband, or a close friend?
We usually view the idea of jealousy as a negative; something we should condemn or try to avoid. But can jealousy ever be acceptable or even right?
Actually, the history of the word ‘jealous’ is just as complex and conveys several shades of meaning. It is derived from the Latin word ‘zelus’, where we get our word ‘zealous’ (to be fervent, passionate). The Old French modified it as ‘gelos’, and it was later adapted by the English as ‘jelous’. It conveyed the feeling of someone who is indignant or resentful in rivalry.
As the guardians of America, we MUST BE indignant and react with resentment toward any adversary or foe who would threaten our liberty and our fragile system of government. We are to be fervent and passionate in our attitude and actions. In his play, ‘Othello’, Shakespeare likened jealousy to a “Green-Eyed Monster”. Could it be we are to be ‘monstrous’ and deal swiftly and mercilessly with anyone or anything that would jeopardize our beloved Republic, America?
Our Founding Fathers fully understood this concept. Thomas Jefferson wrote, “…confidence is everywhere the parent of despotism; free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy which prescribes limited constitutions to bind down those that we are obliged to trust with power…let no more be said of confidence in man but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”
And Scripture clearly states, “God is a jealous god”, revealing His intense provocation by those who would oppose or obstruct His relationship with you and me, the objects of His desire and love.
So, to the tyrants who presently threaten our American liberty and defy the tenets of her Constitution, perhaps our uncompromising message should be: You mess with our country, you mess with us!