Relationships
Jealousy says something is missing in you. Other people’s children, pay, ease. You can rejoice with the other person and still ask for what you long for, without shrinking them. Gratitude is not pretending. It is naming what you already have.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
What it means
This is not a personality test. It is what starts growing when God lives in you — patience in the queue, kindness in the chat, self-control when everyone else says yes.
How you can live it
Pick one fruit to practise today — patience in the queue, kindness in a message.
Commit your way to the LORD. Trust also in him, and he will do this:
What it means
Commit your way to the Lord. Trust him. He will act. Your life is not someone else’s highlight reel — it is a road to leave with him.
How you can live it
When envy comes: commit the road instead of staring. Trust, and take the next right step.
Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
What it means
This is not first a poem for weddings. It is how you treat the person in the email who annoys you. Love waits, does not need to win, and does not keep a list.
How you can live it
In a friendship: one thing from the list — for example not seeking your own, not behaving badly in the email.
A prayer
God, when I get jealous — turn my eyes to what you already gave, and to the other person’s joy. Amen.