Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”
At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.

–Parallel verses:
‭‭James‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬-‭18‬
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

Jealousy crops its head up in many different applications, it seems. Here, the Pharisees and teachers of the law were jealous of the attention and popularity that the Apostles had with the people.

Like black mold creeps up the walls of a house, so jealousy creeps in our hearts to rob us of our ability to love others and value their contributions. And so, we must repent of it and ask Christ to cleanse us from this wicked habit of comparing ourselves to others and allowing jealousy to rule in our hearts. It gives us poor attitudes and actions.

But where does jealousy start? How do we keep from allowing it a foothold in our hearts to begin with?

Proverbs 14:30 says this: “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” It is very interesting to find that jealousy cannot coexist with Godly peace. James, too, forces this in our parallel verses. He calls out those who speak out of jealousy to impart wisdom. He calls their “wisdom” worldly and evil.

In contrast, instead of envy, jealousy, and selfish ambition, God calls us to have hearts that are seeking after him. They look like this: pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. That is quite a list. But with Jesus on the throne, he can give us these good gifts when we repent of our envy and jealousy.

I think that last statement is a good one to ask questions of myself: what am I sowing into the lives of others? It should be the peace of God. And with this intentional activity, I will reap a heart of righteousness.

It is easy to look back and condemn the Jewish leaders here. They were clearly wrong. But it is a harder step to look at myself and say: “There, but for the grace of God, go I!” When jealousy crowds out Godly peace in our hearts, we are blinded to his work through others and, as these leaders did, we condemn them for doing righteous deeds instead of joining them.

Lord, help me to never allow even a hint of jealousy to enter my heart. Keep peace at the center and forefront of my thoughts, my motives and my behaviors!