Tag Archives: jealousy

Can You Change a Flirt?

Can you change a flirt? No you can’t. But keep reading, there is still hope for the situation. If the one you are in love with is a flirt, don’t expect that once you’re married, you will be able to change him or her. It doesn’t work that way. Acting jealous won’t make them change. Giving them a taste of their own medicine is also not a good idea. It usually ends up creating even more problems. So does that mean there is nothing you can do? Basically yes. You can’t change them. The only solution is if they want … Continue reading →

Another Time for Letting Go

I’m having mixed feelings about Regina starting kindergarten this week. Part of me wants to cry out that I haven’t had enough time with her– I should get an extra eight months! (Someone did once ask me Meg’s age when she was two and a half years old, and I responded “a year and a half” because that’s how long she’d been with me!) If Regina were a summer birthday I would definitely hold off on school, but she’s almost six. (And she has been wearing her sister’s outgrown uniforms since April.) I do sometimes feel a bit jealous about … Continue reading →

Dealing With Jealousy – part 2

Yesterday we looked at some reasons for jealousy. But what of you are jealous of someone’s appearance? If you are jealous of another person because of their appearance, stop and analyze your own good qualities. These may include good cheekbones, a smile that lights up your face, expressive eyes, a good figure, a beautiful head of hair, etc. Whatever your best features are, try and make the best of them and draw attention away from those areas you do not consider to be as attractive. If is because of their appearance you need to realize you are never going to … Continue reading →

Dealing with Jealousy – part 1

Yesterday we looked at examples of jealousy in the Bible and the destructive situations jealousy can cause. We only have to look around us on any given day to see jealousy at work in our world, between siblings and family members, work colleagues, neighbors, film and TV stars, sportspeople, the list goes on. We might even struggle with jealousy in our lives. Where does jealousy stem from? It often stems from our own insecurities and lack of self confidence or fear. What is jealousy? According to Webster, the word jealous means “resentful and envious, as of someone’s success, achievements, advantages…” … Continue reading →

Jealousy and Its Close Relatives

Jealousy is an extremely destructive emotion that often leads to other sins. The Bible recounts a number of incidents of jealousy. Here are a few from the Old Testament. Rachel was jealous of Leah because her sister had children by Jacob and she did not, Genesis 30:1. Joseph’s brothers were jealous because Joseph was the favored son of his father, Genesis 37:11. Saul was jealous of David for the praise and popularity he had with the people, 1 Samuel 18:7-9, 16. David’s prosperity because God was with him and not Saul, 1 Samuel 18:14-15 provided another reason for Saul’s jealousy, … Continue reading →

Grandparents, Are You Being Fair? – Part 2

Yesterday we looked at how grandparents are unfair to their own offspring by abdicating any responsibility for the welfare, behavior and building of character of grandchildren by spoiling them and allowing them to do as they please. But there is another way that grandparents can be unfair. That is favoritism. Favoritism can create extremely difficult situations. We see in the Bible of the problems that occur in families. Look at the problems that occurred because Rebekah favored Jacob and Isaac favored Esau, Genesis 25:28. It resulted in deceit, a family split apart, and hate and lack of forgiveness that continued … Continue reading →

Are You Jealous of Your Child or Children?

As parents, we may think of jealousy as something we have to manage in our personal lives, or one of those green-eyed problems to teach our children about. We cope with sibling rivalry, co-worker rivalries, and other forms of jealousy but we might not think about whether or not we are actually jealous of our own children and whether that is affecting our family dynamics or not. I try to teach my children (and remind myself) the difference between envy and jealousy. As I simplify it for my kids, “envy” is when we want something that someone else has and … Continue reading →

What to Do with Others when One Child Gets Sick

I have written occasionally about illness and the single parent because I do think that sickness in a single parent household can be a “bigger deal” than in one where there are two parents ready and available to help. When one child in a family of siblings get sick, it can also be tough figuring out how to make sure the healthy children get enough attention while tending to the ill one… I know that when my children were much younger, the healthy kids tended to act up and either try to get away with things, or do whatever they … Continue reading →

Getting Jealous of Those without Businesses

Most of the time, there are so many things that I like about working on my own in my home business—so much so that I have written several blogs about all the great things about the home business. There are days and times, however, when I cannot help but envy those friends who work the more traditional jobs—mostly I envy their free weekends, paid vacation and benefits—but I do occasionally get a bit jealous of those who do NOT have businesses. There is no denying that owning a business means a lot of work. It also tends to mean long … Continue reading →

Different Ways Jealousy Sidelines a Single Parent Family

I do not want to imply that jealousy is can only be an issue for single parent families, but I do think that it is one of those realities that we can wrestle with. It can peep up and rear its ugly green head in so many different ways for both our children and ourselves that facing down the jealousy beast can help to make for a happier, healthier family. Recently, one of my daughters and I were talking about jealousy as an “issue.” We decided that there are so many ways that single parent families can feel as though … Continue reading →