What a relief to know I no longer need to fight this battle myself, since the Lord stands ready, willing, and able to conquer my sin through the power of his Spirit. "The Lord is sovereign, and we cannot add one inch to our stature, physically or any other way," a good friend recently reminded me. "He guides us every step and his ways are perfect. It has nothing to do with us!"

It's been said that "comparisons are never productive unless Christ is the mirror." He is the one who is "jealous" for us, desiring that our whole heart, mind, body, and soul be focused on him. A friend who admitted to once being a nine on the jealousy scale is now happily living at a one: "The more we hear his voice and are settled in what he is calling us to do, the less we are vulnerable to envy and jealousy," she says. "If we keep a grateful heart, we can rejoice when others succeed!"

Excerpted from Jealousy, a new downloadable resource from Gifted for Leadership.