Jealousy--The Sin No One Talks about: How to Overcome Envy and Live a Life of Freedom by R.T. Kendall

Jealousy--The Sin No One Talks about: How to Overcome Envy and Live a Life of Freedom by R.T. Kendall

Author:R.T. Kendall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-09-06T15:10:00+00:00


Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?

-PROVERBS 27:4

A wise son brings joy to his father.

-PROVERBS 15:20

A foolish son brings grief to his father.

-PROVERBS 17:25

Y FATHER USED to quote the proverb-"A wise son brings joy to his father"-as I grew up. Whether this added to the pressure I was already under to be a good son, who knows? I only know I have been fairly consumed with the need to have my dad's approval.

Some readers may remember watching President George W. Bush on television when he addressed the nation from a church immediately following the events of September 11, 2001. When he sat down, two seats away from his father, former President George H. W. Bush, the latter reached over and patted his son on the knee, showing obvious paternal approval. I have wondered many times since how often the younger Bush may have brought joy to his father.

The rivalry between father and son is a delicate subject. Perhaps even more sensitive is the matter of jealousy that sometimes exists between mother and daughter. The mother can be threatened if her daughter is more beautiful, talented, and sexy; the daughter can be threatened if she is nowhere as attractive as her mother, especially if the mother continues to look young-or tries to look young. The kind of rivalry that can exists between father and son usually relates to achievement. I did not grow up with a problem in this area as far as I can tell; my dad only wanted me to succeed-and outdo him. But this was not too hard to do, seeing that he was relatively uneducated-never going to college or university and working most of his life as a low-paying clerk for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company. He was not an ambitious man. He lived for his church and, if anything, lived his life through me, hoping I would achieve what he never did-becoming a preacher. But there was never any rivalry between us.

This chapter however is relevant not merely for family rivalry. It touches on one of the most common occurrences throughout the church and the world: that of the successor determining to outdo his or her predecessor. It can refer to a physician, a businessman, any professional person, a pastor, vicar, bishop, archbishop-even the pope! I am sure that Pope Benedict XVI must get used to being compared all the time to John Paul II, arguably the most popular pope of all time. Worship leaders, ministers of music, and teachers face the same thing-being compared to the previous person in the same position. Pastors' wives face this too.

Mrs. Martyn Lloyd-Jones did me an enormous favor one day when I was having a cup of tea with her. She knew of the criticisms I was getting and the pressure I was under at Westminster Chapel, having followed her husband-probably the greatest preacher of the twentieth century. She knew how people would say of me, "RT is OK, but he is no Martyn Lloyd-Jones.



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