Struggling with jealousy

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Hi Everyone,

Lately, I have found my self getting jealous over the smallest of things. For example at work, if the guy beside me gets up to have a 5 minute social talk with someone other than me, I am immediately angry inside and think ‘What is so wrong with me that he isn’t always talking to me?’ When the truth is, I know deep down he has the right to have other friends and I have work to do and no time to talk.

Or if I see a mom buy her child a nice toy I get jealous ‘My mom never got me one of those when I was a kid’ When the truth is, my mom did give me a lot of nice things.

I always think that what others have is nice and what I have is useless and no good.

Can anyone share ways that they have learnt to overcome jealousy? This is a hard issue for me. I don’t talk about it with anyone face to face because to be honest, I think I would make myself look ridiculous

CM
 
Gratitude. Every day, find at least three things to give thanks for. Whenever you feel jealous, find something to give thanks for. Thank God for all the good things and even all the things that seem to be bad, since they, too, are part of His loving plan for you.

Betsy
 
Your pride has overtaken your love.
You need to forcefully bring yourself to love and help others over yourself.
I would suggest you begin serving in the food kitchen of your dioceses every weekend and as often as you have time. Make it a priority. Make yourself a sister of service to others, and pray the rosary with the intention that your self focus be diminished.
 
You are already on the right track with your “the truth is…” statements. Keep confronting those thoughts when they appear!
 
I also struggle with jealousy. I try to confess it whenever I find myself giving in to jealous feelings too much (when they become grave matter) and I trust in the grace of God through Confession to help me overcome this and all of my sins. 🙂
 
H
Can anyone share ways that they have learnt to overcome jealousy? This is a hard issue for me. I don’t talk about it with anyone face to face because to be honest, I think I would make myself look ridiculous

CM
intentional daily prayer of gratitude for my many blessings
stewardship spirituality, which regards all as gift from God to be used in the advancement of the kingdom, directing my time, talent and treasure to fully live my vocation, serve the Church and God’s poor

service is the answer
 
Hi Everyone,

Lately, I have found my self getting jealous over the smallest of things. For example at work, if the guy beside me gets up to have a 5 minute social talk with someone other than me, I am immediately angry inside and think ‘What is so wrong with me that he isn’t always talking to me?’ When the truth is, I know deep down he has the right to have other friends and I have work to do and no time to talk.

Or if I see a mom buy her child a nice toy I get jealous ‘My mom never got me one of those when I was a kid’ When the truth is, my mom did give me a lot of nice things.

I always think that what others have is nice and what I have is useless and no good.

Can anyone share ways that they have learnt to overcome jealousy? This is a hard issue for me. I don’t talk about it with anyone face to face because to be honest, I think I would make myself look ridiculous

CM
… my dear friend …

… my 2 cents , its a result of original sin and i would not worry too much , probably just an imperfection most of the time and no sin anyway , only you would know , a sin is only a sin if you know what sin is , in my opinion the knowledge of good and evil after eating the forbidden apple is the big problem , if you were in the garden of eden you would not know anything was evil or good , and hence you have no knowledge of good and evil and sins would just be mistakes you must learn from , there would be no sin — only mistakes to learn from , the whole problem is the human mind is very ill as a result of sin , the first thing that happened after the fall was everything became a mistake — man starting devoloping multiple infinite systems of laws and rules in his head — and these drive man insane even if people don’t know it , sins like jealousy are not the problem , this would have happened as a mistake in the garden of eden where alll would have been sinless – occasionally , but people having no knowledge of good and evil would not have sinned - they would learn from the mistake , it must also be noted that man has lost about 95 % of the knowledge and abilities of his mind through sin - primarily the preternatural gifts , and this is rather important to note , because now the little of his mind man has left is also fallen , man is mentally ill , insane , sick , deluded , prone to evil and evil — and i only state the situation as i see it , i’m not being sadistic or anyhthing , so a man should not be disappoointed too much with minor faults like these , i think many will find such things warrant little attention on judgment day , the point i’m getting at here to make this brief is — if you were sinless in the garden of eden with full use and abilities of a non-fallen mind this would just be a mistake you would very quickly learn from but with the knowledge of good and evil you have it is now a sin ( potentially ) and one should bear this in mind , i am not denying that sins can lead to hell or condoning sin but too many people have all the focus on sin and i suspect most don’t know sin just = mistake in the garden of eden ( non-fallen people ) and the knowledge of good and evil is the real heart of the problem , along with a fallen human nature now , eden is not sodom and gomorrah but human beings must learn from trial and error as they make mistakes , and in eden this would be true too , but with no knowledge of good and evil the occasional sin just = mistake you must leaarn from , a little known fact that may offer some comfort , i don’t think god is too fussed with minor human sins and imperfections either – not as much as people think i’m sure , god only sees them as mistakes you must learn from , god only forbids those mistakes that are sins because they harm you , all and everything and him , its a real shame we got knowledge of good and evil - without it we could not sin no matter what - only mistakes to learn from , sin is a human being or angel being unnatural , but even unnaturalness is not always sinful such as accidentally doing something sinful with no intention to sin , its a long story , i guess i’m trying to put sin in perspective so maybe you will not worry so much about these mistakes and just try to learn from them — it is human to errr , humans have to make mistakes , and god just sees his little children making mistkes and wants them to learn — don’t take the whole thing too seriously , we are all just little babies to god that must make mistakes alll the time , god loves us alll as his little babies too ,would you stop loving your little baby if she made a mistake - of course not , don’t worry and just do your best , god loves you and all no matter what , he only wants you to do your best and keep learning and trying , no more …

… god bless you 👍🙂 …

… john …
 
Think about some talents that you have, then go out and share them with the world. 🙂

When other people have been jealous of me, it came as a total surprise because my reaction was: “Wow, I admire this person so much, they have incredible talent and ability, I love being around them, working together we could be even better and go really far … So why the heck are they jealous of me, don’t they see how gifted they are and how good they are at something that I can’t do?”

It seems to me that people tend to take their own skills for granted … everybody wants what their neighbor has, grass is always greener on the other side of the fence type of thing.

~~ the phoenix
 
one thing i think will help you is, each time you get a jealous thought or feeling, pray a Hail Mary, and keep praying if it persists, always seek help from heaven in all your temptations, no matter how little they may seem,
and then try reading up on the remedies of jealousy, and also the causes of it.

i would also like to point out, that sin is sin so matter what, whether you know it or not, the only difference in sin is either venial or mortal, and when someone does not know a certain sin is actually mortal, or if a certain sin is a sin at all, then it is venial, but nevertheless, it is always a sin, and it has a negative effect on you no matter what, which must be remedied at some point in this life or the next.
and also, whether mortal or venial, they must be taken very seriously, and we must strive to overcome our venial sins with just as much diligence as our mortal ones, because every sin, no matter how big or small, hurts Jesus, and has caused Him to suffer very much, and they separate us from Him by drawing our souls to things created.

you will also gain extra special graces and strength in overcoming this and all of your others sins by going to confession and communion, so always try and take part in those, they will always be most helpful for you, as long as you go to them with sincerity, humility, and love.

ok, hope this helps, take care.
 
But is an unwanted thought that flashes into one’s head a sin? I though a thought can only be a sin if someone consents to it and dwells on it.

It sounds like the OP regards these feelings as unwanted. Doesn’t that make them temptations and not sins?

Of course, we can learn, with God’s grace, how to uncondition ourselves from even some of these involuntary thoughts. But, coming from someone who struggles with scruples, it’s a very very very vicious circle when you feel like you have to confess every un-Christian thought that enters your mind.
 
But is an unwanted thought that flashes into one’s head a sin? I though a thought can only be a sin if someone consents to it and dwells on it.

It sounds like the OP regards these feelings as unwanted. Doesn’t that make them temptations and not sins?

Of course, we can learn, with God’s grace, how to uncondition ourselves from even some of these involuntary thoughts. But, coming from someone who struggles with scruples, it’s a very very very vicious circle when you feel like you have to confess every un-Christian thought that enters your mind.
that is true, when it is simply a thought that enters the mind then it is a temptation to sin, and not an actual sin committed, but it is at that point, as i said, that a prayer should be made in order to combat that temptation,

and even still, when you are simply being tempted to a sin, it’s still good to confess that you are having that temptation, because by confessing it you gain the graces you need to have strength over it, along with many other much needed graces to battle your sins and detest them more.

when i said that sin is sin no matter what, i was trying to correct another posters comment.(although i’m not sure you are speaking to me…cause i wasn’t quoted :3 but i had a feeling, so sorry if i’m mistaken)
 
Hi Everyone,

Lately, I have found my self getting jealous over the smallest of things. For example at work, if the guy beside me gets up to have a 5 minute social talk with someone other than me, I am immediately angry inside and think ‘What is so wrong with me that he isn’t always talking to me?’ When the truth is, I know deep down he has the right to have other friends and I have work to do and no time to talk.

Or if I see a mom buy her child a nice toy I get jealous ‘My mom never got me one of those when I was a kid’ When the truth is, my mom did give me a lot of nice things.

I always think that what others have is nice and what I have is useless and no good.

Can anyone share ways that they have learnt to overcome jealousy? This is a hard issue for me. I don’t talk about it with anyone face to face because to be honest, I think I would make myself look ridiculous

CM
Jealousy is the ego grasping on to something it can’t have.

To get rid of this requires detachment from ego driven desires in exchange for accepting only God’s will.

Ego lives in the past, or the future, not the present.

“All of our anxieties relate to time.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

So, ask God to help you with your jealousy and to help you life in the present moment, where He is. Being with God in the moment is all that is real. Everything else is the ego trying to feed itself.

Jim
 
But is an unwanted thought that flashes into one’s head a sin? I though a thought can only be a sin if someone consents to it and dwells on it.

It sounds like the OP regards these feelings as unwanted. Doesn’t that make them temptations and not sins?

.
I don’t think anyone is offering a judgement that OP is battling a sin, but he has asked advice on battling the spiritual challenge or temptation to jealously, and that is what responders have addressed from their own experience.
 
I wasn’t saying that anyone was accusing the OP of sin, but Emerald Wings’ very good point reminded me to mention what I did.

For a scrupulous person (like myself), that good advice might have looked like that, so I wanted to just clear it up. Emerald Wings, your advice is very good and very helpful.
 
Hi Everyone,

I really hope this doesn’t turn into a big debate. I just want to clarify why I made my original post. It isn’t so much I am concerned that my jealousy is a sin. I simply want to quit be jealous because it is not a fun way to live. Also, I have always despised the behaviour that jealousy makes people do. I simply want to become a better person.

I hope that explains where I am coming from
 
Hi Everyone,

I really hope this doesn’t turn into a big debate. I just want to clarify why I made my original post. It isn’t so much I am concerned that my jealousy is a sin. I simply want to quit be jealous because it is not a fun way to live. Also, I have always despised the behaviour that jealousy makes people do. I simply want to become a better person.

I hope that explains where I am coming from
Pray on it and ask the Lord to show you what is causing the triggers that cause your jealousy. Usually its something in our past that happened that no triggers our emotional responses. Whatever it is, God will show you how to over come it.

Jim
 
CM…it sounds like you’ve got a ‘pride’ issue going there.

When a co-worker chats with someone else, just think … “If God wanted me to be part of that conversation he would have arranged it so.”

When you see someone with something better than what you’ve gotten, think…“Thank you, Lord, for blessing my brother/sister with that!”

Instead of always judging people…try being their servant instead…even if it hurts at first. Things will improve for you dramatically if you keep working at it.

Also, you might want to give this Bible passage a look-through: Matthew 6:24-34. It is reportedly Our Blessed Mother’s favorite…and it should give you some peace, besides!
 
🙂
Hi Everyone,

I really hope this doesn’t turn into a big debate. I just want to clarify why I made my original post. It isn’t so much I am concerned that my jealousy is a sin. I simply want to quit be jealous because it is not a fun way to live. Also, I have always despised the behaviour that jealousy makes people do. I simply want to become a better person.

I hope that explains where I am coming from
… my dear friend …

… all want to be a better person , i’ll just offer some observations that may help , most people think to be good they must think like a computer and never deviate from perfect good thoughts , and they automatically follow by thinking they must speak and act perfectly like a computerised robot , this is not human at all , we should cut ourselves some slack and whilst acknowledging and knowing sin is the only and most destructive force for us and our world , it is important to know that a fallen human mind has maybe only 5 or 10 % of the knowledge and understanding and abilities it should , and the little that is left is very sick and prone to evil , another important point is that humans must make mistakes as they learn from trial and error - eternally , all living and non - living things are the same in varying ways , the clouds are designed to keep the water on our planet and further to distribute the water on the land , but often the clouds get it wrong and rain over the sea - there is a certain randomness or chaos within perfect order in the clouds and with everything in or on or around our planet and beyond to the entire cosmos , but occasionally the clouds collide and produce the rain we need on land , same with trees - they shoot out roots looking for water and sometimes get it wrong and sometimes right - but they learn from their mistakes , cats fall off trees but learn , mountain goats can fall off mountains and so on , if man had no knowledge of good and evil he could have made a mistake of jealousy but would quickly learn and there would be no sin because he would not know about sin or evil , the point being we should accept our imperfections and shortcomings and understand it is ok to make mistakes , it is truly human to err - to err is the human way eternally , many of us will get a shock to find out that god who is infinite love just loved us infinitely without deviation the whole time we were here , perhaps you are more unhappy with your imperfections because you can’t accept yourself being less than perfect ??? , i am not condoning sin at all , avoid all sin at all costs for sure , but undertand your potential sinful behaviour and imperfections are because of the fallen mind and these though they would be rare could most certainly occur if you were sinless in the garden of eden with no knowledge of good and evil - and there would be no sin , just mistakes you learn from , we all need to stop trying to think like a computer and speak and act like a computerised robot and just be truly human - one with nature if you like - natural , to live perfctly naturally and in perfect harmony with nature , look at nature and it is virtually never perfectly symmetrical or geomoetrically perfect - there is random chaos within infinitely perfect order , a big lesson for us all , i hope this helps , pray for me please …

… blessings and peace to you 👍🙂 …

… john …
 
… My dear friend …

… My 2 cents , its a result of original sin and i would not worry too much , probably just an imperfection most of the time and no sin anyway , only you would know , a sin is only a sin if you know what sin is , in my opinion the knowledge of good and evil after eating the forbidden apple is the big problem , if you were in the garden of eden you would not know anything was evil or good , and hence you have no knowledge of good and evil and sins would just be mistakes you must learn from , there would be no sin — only mistakes to learn from , the whole problem is the human mind is very ill as a result of sin , the first thing that happened after the fall was everything became a mistake — man starting devoloping multiple infinite systems of laws and rules in his head — and these drive man insane even if people don’t know it , sins like jealousy are not the problem , this would have happened as a mistake in the garden of eden where alll would have been sinless – occasionally , but people having no knowledge of good and evil would not have sinned - they would learn from the mistake , it must also be noted that man has lost about 95 % of the knowledge and abilities of his mind through sin - primarily the preternatural gifts , and this is rather important to note , because now the little of his mind man has left is also fallen , man is mentally ill , insane , sick , deluded , prone to evil and evil — and i only state the situation as i see it , i’m not being sadistic or anyhthing , so a man should not be disappoointed too much with minor faults like these , i think many will find such things warrant little attention on judgment day , the point i’m getting at here to make this brief is — if you were sinless in the garden of eden with full use and abilities of a non-fallen mind this would just be a mistake you would very quickly learn from but with the knowledge of good and evil you have it is now a sin ( potentially ) and one should bear this in mind , i am not denying that sins can lead to hell or condoning sin but too many people have all the focus on sin and i suspect most don’t know sin just = mistake in the garden of eden ( non-fallen people ) and the knowledge of good and evil is the real heart of the problem , along with a fallen human nature now , eden is not sodom and gomorrah but human beings must learn from trial and error as they make mistakes , and in eden this would be true too , but with no knowledge of good and evil the occasional sin just = mistake you must leaarn from , a little known fact that may offer some comfort , i don’t think god is too fussed with minor human sins and imperfections either – not as much as people think i’m sure , god only sees them as mistakes you must learn from , god only forbids those mistakes that are sins because they harm you , all and everything and him , its a real shame we got knowledge of good and evil - without it we could not sin no matter what - only mistakes to learn from , sin is a human being or angel being unnatural , but even unnaturalness is not always sinful such as accidentally doing something sinful with no intention to sin , its a long story , i guess i’m trying to put sin in perspective so maybe you will not worry so much about these mistakes and just try to learn from them — it is human to errr , humans have to make mistakes , and god just sees his little children making mistkes and wants them to learn — don’t take the whole thing too seriously , we are all just little babies to god that must make mistakes alll the time , god loves us alll as his little babies too ,would you stop loving your little baby if she made a mistake - of course not , don’t worry and just do your best , god loves you and all no matter what , he only wants you to do your best and keep learning and trying , no more …

… God bless you 👍🙂 …

… John …
john, you need to read more-jealousy is one of the 7 deadly sins. She is graced to be able to see that in herself, and confess. If she keeps praying god will give her the grace to overcome. You are just watering it down. God loves us, but he is also just. Excuses don’t count!
 
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