When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons,
they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.
Jealousy is one of the most destructive and self-corrupting vices that can overwhelm the human heart. More often than not, it is rooted in one’s blindness to see and accept one’s own inherent goodness and giftedness. And so, our hearts are in perpetual turmoil at the good fortune of others; the giftedness of others, their successes and even their beauty and goodness.
Jealousy is like a cancer if left unchecked or healed can metastasize and destroy whatever goodness that remains. It is this kind of blindness that took control of the brothers of Joseph in the Biblical story of today and led them to sell him into slavery.
However, in the unfolding of salvation history, God would not let this moment of desolation have the final say in the great saga of his unfailing mercy and love for his people. God, indeed, writes straight with crooked lines. The Lord would eventually place Joseph in a prominent place of authority in the court of the Egyptian ruler and when famine gripped the land, he would paradoxically and providentially save his brothers and family. For, you see, jealousy and revenge would have no part of the heart of Joseph.
Has jealousy touched our lives? Have we permitted it to replace our ability to see, accept and celebrate our own unique goodness and giftedness? If so, let us pray for the grace of conversion that our hearts may root out this cancer and we might bask in the unfailing goodness and mercy of God.