T here is nothing that will upset domestic tranquility more quick ly than jealousy on the part of one of the mates. A young man and his wife, active church workers, came to me with the problem of jealousy on the part of the wife. She didn’t like other people talking to her husband. This made him mad. In the first session, she and I agreed, theoretical ly, that jealousy is a bad thing. The next Sunday they went to Sunday school, attending the married couples’ class. They sat down next to my client’s cousin and her husband. The woman was seated next to my client's husband. That wasn’t so bad until the teacher noticed that my client’s cousin didn’t have a Bible. He sug gested her husband share it with her. The wife didn’t like this. She sat there jealous and “green with envy.” From what I gathered, they had quite a fiery row on the way home from church. That week, when they returned for their appointment, there was a disgusted man who entered the office. His statement was, “I’m just fed up with her! I’ve had it!” Now, not only did I have a jealous woman on my hands, but also an angry man. So, when I talked with the woman, she stated, “I have to make my hus band think I’m jealous. Why, I wouldn’t know what he’d do if I weren’t. How could I trust him?” What a strange way to seek to main tain a marriage! Here was a Chris tian woman who was clinging to the work of the flesh in order to control her husband. Theoretically, it is quite easy to say that the work of the flesh is evil; we should turn God- ward asking for victory. This young woman knew this. Yet it was the last thing she wanted to admit. The solu tion to this woman’s jealous heart
was not for her husband to be care ful in isolating himself- from any other women. Similarly, the solution to this man’s hostile approach toward his wife was not to have her change. It is almost like both partners hav ing pneumonia. The doctor must treat each of them. It might be that the husband kept the window open too wide and as a result the wife got sick. Can she say, “You caused me to be sick. You go get the shots” ? The husband may have been most in considerate but both are sick and both need to be treated. In the case of my clients, each needed to come before God, asking Him to help them to achieve a change of heart. The most wonderful thing is that as be lievers we have a place to go. That is good news! Christ died to take care of jealousy, envy, hate and bit terness. The only thing that can keep you from availing yourself of the power of God in your life, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” If you decide to nurse your grudge, you will be the loser. It is your privi lege to be miserable, but you don't have to be. There is a fountain of wisdom from above enabling us to respond to all of the affairs of life. “The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mer cy. . . .” What a wonderful thing to realize that the terrible world about us can’t touch us, unless we want it to. Christ died to enable us to cope effectively with the situations of life. This woman, struggling with a jeal ous heart, and her husband, thor oughly disgusted with her, had a need to turn Godward. Christ died for our sins. He died to give us the power that we need to receive inner 15
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