Teachings from Quest for God's Own Heart Ministry

Love is Kind and is not Jealous

 Colossians 3:12-14

We have spent three weeks on the fact that Love is Patient. We covered many of the attributes of Love in our study on patience, so we will not delve deeply into all of the rest. We will spend the time necessary on each attribute for we need to not only talk about Love, we need to be Love, for:

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”

Today, we will be looking at Kindness and Jealousy. Love is Patient, but Love is also Kind and is not Jealous. Our main passage today is Colossians 3:12-14:

Love is Kind

“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.”

We are to clothe ourselves with Love. We are to clothe ourselves with kindness. It is easy for us to say that we are to be kind to one another, but clothing ourselves with kindness, now that’s a different story.

When we clothe ourselves with the attributes of Love, we are not merely possessors of Love. We are not merely proclaimers of Love, for we are Love.

Clothing ourselves with Love is clothing ourselves with Jesus Christ, for He is Love. We are to be Jesus in every situation that we may face in life. When we clothe ourselves with Jesus, it will be within our nature to reveal His Love to those around us. We will be Kind, not only to one another, but to our enemies as well. When we are clothed with Jesus, we will be Kindness.

Titus 3:4-7

“When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.”

Jesus did not show kindness to us because we deserved it. He did not save us from our sins because we were righteous. He showed us kindness because of His mercy. He showed us True Love.

When God tells us that we are to be kind, He is telling us that we are to show kindness to everyone. Easier said than done, right? Jesus did not turn His back on us because of our sins. He did not turn His back on us because we were not worthy. Jesus, instead reached out to us, showing us His mercy, showing us His grace. Jesus taught us how to show kindness to one another through His own mercy toward us. Jesus is Mercy. Jesus is Kindness. Let us be a reflection of Jesus to the world.

God was the one who initiated kindness with us. If it were left to us, we would have never sought out God’s mercy and grace. We would have never known, nor experienced His kindness.

Jeremiah 31:3:

“Long ago the Lord said to Israel: ‘I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.’”

God drew us to His unfailing love. He drew us to His kindness, because He desires to have an intimate relationship with us. We didn’t deserve it. God drew us to Himself because of His mercy. He drew us with His kindness to partake of His unfailing love.

It is because of God’s mercy that we are saved. It is because of His kindness that we are drawn to Him. Therefore, we are to reach out to our fellow believers, our neighbors, co-workers, and even our enemies, drawing them to the Father through our kindness. We are to be Love. We are to be Kind.

When we clothe ourselves with Love, we are patient and kind. 

When we clothe ourselves with Love, we will never be jealous of what others have.

When we clothe ourselves with Love, we will be focused on the needs and desires of others, and not ourselves.

When we clothe ourselves with Love, we will live a life of selflessness, for there will be no room for worldly jealousy.

Of course, we all know Exodus 20:5. God declares that He is a jealous God. So, how can the Bible tell us that we are not to be jealous, if God Himself is jealous?

Love is Not Jealous

Exodus 20:5

“You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.”

The difference between worldly jealousy and godly jealousy is that God desires the best for us. He is jealous when we do not serve Him, because He knows that what He has for us is better than anything we can receive from the world. His motives are pure. His jealousy is pure.

Paul’s jealousy for the Corinthians were also pure:

2 Corinthians 11:2-3

“I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ. But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.”

Paul’s jealousy was due to his desire for the Corinthians to experience all that God had to offer. Paul also acknowledges that it was because of Satan that our purity was taken away from us. But God has made a way for us to take off our old nature, and clothe ourselves in Jesus Christ instead. Galatians 5:24-26:

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.”

We are to become Jesus to the rest of the world. That’s what Jesus meant when He said we are the Light of the World. The only way that is possible is if we not only have the Love of Jesus in our heart, but we also share the Love of Jesus to everyone in need.

We are to be Patient.

We are to be Kind.

And we are not to live a life of Jealousy.

Let us go out and be Jesus to the world.

Galatians 6:9-10:

“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.”

Let us first love one another. Instead of harshly judging, let us instead love the Body of Christ. Then, let us love those in the deepest crevasses of our society. Let us be Love.