I recently watched an old video clip where a well-known celebrity explained how she quit believing in the Christian God when she heard Deuteronomy 6:15: "the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God."
She said she couldn't believe in a god who was "jealous of her."
Her response is representative of the high self-esteem we humans have of ourselves and how it always leads to a low view of God.
This celebrity has the common problem defined in Galatians 6:3: "If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves."
When we're deceived about our importance, we become deceived about God's importance too. We inflate our worth and deflate God's. We don't understand God's incredible grace because we have not understood our incredible sinfulness and desperate need for a Savior.
Only from our fallen human perspective could we think God is jealous of us!!
In truth, God is jealous for us.
He knows what's best for us, and He wants us to devote ourselves to Him and His purposes, not to false gods such as pride and self-love (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
Instead of turning us away from God, this truth should make us stand in awe of Him.
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To read more about the meaning of God's jealousy: Our Jealous God
To read more about the god of self-love: Godly Self-Esteem.
Bible Love Notes
It is too bad Oprah didn't read the verses surrounding Deuteronomy 6:15. If she had she would realize that God is not jealous of us, but is jealous of the time we waster worshiping other "gods". Someone with such great influence could have done so much in furthering the gospel if they had "rightly divided the Word of God".
ReplyDeleteWas it oprah?
ReplyDeleteyes. If you click the link in the words "well-known celebrity" you can read more about it.
DeleteThe Lord is very Jealous for us. It is the same way a man is jealous for his wife and vice versa. We should be committed and faithful to God because he is committed and faithful to us. Thank you so much. I read the love notes often and this is my first response.
ReplyDeleteYes, Terry. You're right.
DeleteI'm so glad you are a regular reader.