Genesis 37:4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Jacob loved Joseph and he gave Joseph a coat of many colors. Joseph’s brothers saw the coat and rather than love their brother, they allowed their jealousy to build to the point that they actually hated their brother. Jacob may have been wrong in showing such favoritism to just one of his sons, but the brothers demonstrated a total lack of love for their brother.

In 1 Corinthians 13:5, we learn that love is not easily provoked. Had Joseph’s brother learned to love their brother, they would not have allowed their father’s favoritism to ruin their relationship with their brother. Instead, competition for their father’s affection what passed down from their mothers and as such, rather than work together as a family, the family fought and chose instead to fight against each other.

Love is a choice. You have a choice whether you are going to love another. They may not always return the love and they can often do things to hurt you or spurn your love. However, you can choose to not allow other’s actions to change your attitude towards others. The choice is yours; are you going to be like Joseph’s brothers who allowed their father’s affection to provoke them to hate Joseph or are you going to be like Joseph who had every opportunity to get back at his brothers but instead chose to forgive them.

Proverbs 31:28b her husband also, and he praiseth her.

The woman who has chosen to allow virtue to permeate her life has chosen a high calling for her life. She is not like every other woman. She has chosen to live her life so that others might succeed. She has chosen to live her life so that when others look at her, they understand that there is something different about her.

According to the Law of Moses, if a husband felt that his wife had been unfaithful he was allowed to bring his wife before the priest who would make her drink a mixture of holy water and dirt. If she was faithful, then God would allow this mixture to have no consequence upon her life, however, if she had committed adultery, then the mixture would be her curse.

A virtuous woman would never have to worry about her husband being jealous of her because her choice to add virtue to her life has caused her husband to safely trust in her. She knows that she is valuable in her husband’s eyes. She understands that because she has decided to choose inward character rather than doing what everyone else is doing, in her husband’s heart, she is the most valuable thing to him; more valuable then rubies.

Her husband does not simply sit back and enjoy the fact that his wife has chosen to live her life so that he is successful. Her husband does not take for granted that he has married a woman who because of the choices she has made has enabled him to do more then he could have done had he not married or had he married just any other girl. No, the virtuous woman’s husband recognizes what she means to him and he lets everyone know through the words of his mouth that she is highly respected and worthy of praise.

When you chose to add virtue to your life, your life will naturally start affecting those who God has place around you. No longer will you simply be living your life for yourself, but instead your focus will be upon God and what you can do for HIM. As you diligently live your life for HIS glory, God will cause those whom you have touched to rise up and praise you. This praise is not for you to become proud and self-righteous, this praise is to encourage you that the path you have chosen is right, and that others are grateful for the positive impact that you have had upon their life.

The reason you have chosen to add virtue to your life is not because you desire the praises of man. However, one of the benefits of doing what is right before God is that others will see your conscience choice serve the Lord and they will let you know how your life has benefited them.

You have a choice to make. You can chose to add virtue to your life and to see what God can do through you because you have chosen to put HIM first in your life, or you can chose to live for yourself and see how the world treats you. If you chose to live for God, you will touch the lives of many and they will let you know how you have blessed them. If you chose to live for yourself, do not expect the praises of man; you can expect the flattery of man as they try to use you for their own selfish desires. The choice is yours; how do you desire others to remember you? What legacy do you want to leave for those who come after you? The praises of man for doing right is always better than flattery.

Acts 13:45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.

Paul and Barnabas went to Atioch in Pisidia. While there, they went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day where they read the law. The Jews invited them to share any exhortation that they might have. Paul was not going to pass up on this opportunity and he shared the history of Jesus Christ starting with the nation of Israel leaving Egypt to claim the Promise Land. After this sermon, many Jews were persuaded to believe.

The gentiles heard of the words of Paul and they requested that the next Sabbath day that they too be allowed to hear the good report that Paul had to share. Nonetheless, when the Jews saw that the gentiles were going to hear Paul, they were filled with envy and began to work against Paul. The Jews were more concerned about being different from the world then they were in changing the world around them.

Paul and Barnabas understood the great commission. They understood that they had a duty to share the good news with anyone who was willing to give them audience. They were seeking to please God and not man and as such, they were willing to preach to the gentiles even though it meant that the Jews were going to make their lives miserable.

Paul’s sermon to the Jews was powerful and it persuaded many to continue in the grace of God. However, these Jews that believed were not willing to give up their traditions. They had heard the good news that Jesus had died for all, but they were only willing to live for God as long as they were able to hold to some of their traditions which meant they had nothing to do with the gentiles.

Because of the hardness of the Jews heart, they missed a great opportunity where they could have had a great impact upon Christianity by being the first community where the Jews and the gentiles worshiped God together. The Jews had heard the good news and rather than fill their minds with the things of God, they reserved the right to hold themselves out as more important then the gentiles that lived in their community.

One of Christ’s precious promises to you as a believer is that you can have virtue in your life. When you have virtue in your life, you have no room in your heart and mind for envy and jealousy. Rather than be jealous over what God is doing with another individual, you need to learn to give God the glory and praise that HE is due. You cannot afford to be jealous over how God might be using another believer. God knows what HIS perfect will is for your life and HE will guide you. Do not work against God by allowing envy to control your mind.

In the Ten Commandments, the final commandment is thou shalt not covet. When you allow envy and jealousy to build in your life, you are not living under the power of virtue. Envy will cause you to say and do things that are not pleasing to God. Jealousy will cause you to miss opportunities that God has for you. By choosing to put on the mind of Christ, God will be able to direction your thoughts and actions in a way that HE can be glorified through you. Do not allow envy to destroy your relationships with fellow believers. Instead, live with a changed mind that thinks upon the things of God.

Daniel 6:5 Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

Daniel was one of the three presidents placed by Darius over the entire kingdom of Babylon. The other two presidents and the 120 princes under the presidents were jealous of Daniel. Daniel had an excellent spirit that caused the king to set him over the whole realm. These other 122 men were so hungry for power, they were looking for ways to cause Daniel to do something wrong to cause Darius to lose favor in Daniel. Nonetheless, they could not find anything that Daniel did wrong.

Even though these other presidents and princes could not find anything that Daniel did wrong, they came up with a new law to trap Daniel They understood that the only way they could trap Daniel is if they created a law that made it illegal for him to pray to his God. These men understood that Daniel was faithful when it came to communicating with God. They knew that Daniel would choose to obey God rather than the king when such a choice was required. Thus the only way to cause Daniel to lose favor with the king would be to highlight to the king that Darius was not number one with Daniel.

Daniel may have lived most of his adult life in a heathen land. Daniel could have lost his faith in God by questioning why God allowed him to be removed from his homeland and forced to serve wicked men. However, we do not see in scripture how Daniel allowed himself to feel sorry for himself. Instead, Daniel allowed himself to be transplanted by God and then he sought for ways to serve God right where God placed him.

Bad things may occur in your life, but that does not mean that you can stop being faithful to God. Remember that all things work together for good for those who are called according to HIS purpose. It does not matter how bad your life becomes, the important thing that God and those around you should see is that you are dedicated to making God number one in your life. This means that you must make a conscious effort to stop focusing on the evil and instead concentrate upon your relationship with God. As you put God first in your life, others should see God through you.

Daniel made God first in his life, but he also strived hard to serve the king. Because of Daniel’s choices, God gave him an excellent spirit; God caused him to rise to a position of great influence. Daniel never would have been in the position of influence had he not first decided that God was first in his life. By faith, you too can strive to have a personal relationship with God. You can live your life in such a way that those who look at you can see your faithfulness to God. Others should look at you and have to search long and hard to find something you do that is wrong.

What are you doing to demonstrate your faithfulness to God? Can the world look at you and see that God is number one in your life? Do they see that you are faithful to pray, read your Bible, or to meditate? If you desire to do great things for God, then you should first demonstrate to God and others that HE is number one in your life. Your faithfulness to God should be evident to all. People should look at you and just know that there is something different about you. They may not always know that it is because of the time you spend with God. By faith you must make God a priority in your life.

Deuteronomy 32:20-21 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very forward generation, children in whom is no faith. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

The children of Israel were told that they had no faith when they allowed themselves to serve strange gods. By serving other gods, they not only demonstrated their lack of faith but they also moved God to jealousy. God had chosen Israel as HIS own and HE desired that they remain faithful to HIM. The fact that they did not displeased God.

Imagine that from birth, the parents of a young man and young lady signed a contract that their children would marry. Now imagine that the young man discovers that he really loves the young lady. He will be jealous of any conversation she has with another man. He will be jealous over anything that takes her time away from him. He will be jealous because he understands that they were meant to be together and her actions are not conducive to the development of their relationship.

This is an example of Israel�s relationship with God. God had chosen Israel and Israel at this time was not responsive to God. It did not matter that God had demonstrated HIS love. They rejected HIM and HIS love and instead went off and did their own thing by serving other gods. God has the right to be jealous in that he had a covenant with Israel that HE was to be their God and that they were to serve HIM.

However, we have a different relationship with God then God has with Israel. We have chosen to have a relationship with God. We have chosen to be called the children of God. Imagine now that a young man and young lady have united their hearts and souls in holy matrimony. This young man starts spending more time at work and is too friendly with the secretaries. This man has chosen to love his bride yet he has now turned his back on that relationship. His bride is going to find jealousy growing in her heart when she sees things cropping up that distract his attention away from her.

You demonstrate your lack of faith when you allow things to crop up in your life that prevents you from serving God. You do not have to bow down to a foreign god to make God jealous. You can start spending more time doing your own thing rather then the things of God. You can allow the joys of this world to entangle you. God will become jealous really quickly and will proclaim your lack of faith.

You have made a choice to serve God. A bride and groom must promise their faithfulness until death. God does not believe in either physical or spiritual divorce. Your relationship with God is eternal. God desires your faithfulness. If you demonstrate your lack of trust, HE will become jealous over your faithlessness. God longs for your perfect trust in HIM just as a bride desires her husband to have eyes only for her. God desires that you spend your time with HIM just as a bride desires her husband to spend his available time with her. Just as a brides expectations are reasonable in light of the covenant that they have made, so too is God�s expectations for your life reasonable. You have chose to trust HIM. You have committed to the relationship, now you must be faithful until death to keep it.