When is Jealousy OK?

Another Dad-conversation that started with a good question, and requires me to put into words something that I haven't thought of explicitly in a long time.

My son was wrestling a bit with the idea that God is a jealous God, and that he does things for his own glory. Why is this, he asked...it seems that is selfish and bad. When we act like that, it's not OK. Why is it OK for God?




My answer went something like this:

God is the only one that is actually worthy of praise. It's right for Him to be jealous.

When any human is jealous, or out for his/her own glory, it is inappropriate and selfish and wrong... because sin is involved. We are generally out for our own glory, fame, and selfish desires.

God, however, is out for our good. He is not selfish, even though that seems contradictory when using the word jealous. His love is perfect. His thoughts are perfect. He knows us, (he made us) and knows that we will be more happy, fulfilled, and content when our allegiance is not divided between Him and someone or something else.

I know that's a simple answer for something that will take many more years for even me to fully understand and experience, but it's a good start to the conversation about how we are different than God, and how a relationship with Him works.

Percy Jackson's got NOTHING on MY God!

Raising kids is amazing. It's a confusing, exhausting, joyous, incredible adventure.
We make it up as we go along, which is hard to understand and appreciate when you're the kid.

The other day, my faith, my love for my sons, and my love of books all came together in a great way.

(I understand that this could be another example of showing you the good parts of my life, and none of the bad. Kind of like Facebook can be, showing only the "highlight reel", and not the "behind the scenes" footage. There are plenty of "behind the scenes" incidents in my house, just like yours...)

I have read several of the Rick Riordan books, because my 4th grade students, and my 5th grade son, are all very interested in them. You might know the movies "Lightning Thief" and "Sea of Monsters". He has read them, too. The basic concept of those books is that the Greek gods are real, and the main characters are caught up in the quests and the conflict between the mythological characters. They're very good. Very entertaining. I recommend them, even to adults.

My 11 year old and I were reading a Bible devotional together, and so the following is what I wrote to him:

I just read Day 35, about super powers.
Again, I'm struck by the contrast between what our God is like, and what the Greek gods were like.
They had specific powers, different from each other.
They had rivalries between each other.
They were immature, selfish, un-dependable, and scary.
Etc
(Not sure why I'm saying "had"... as if they actually existed at some point. Maybe because the sincere belief in them was real many years ago.)

Our God is all-powerful.He is the source of all power, all prophesy, all "magic", all creation, all healing, all protection, and everything good.
AAAAAAAAAND.....
He is GOOD!!!!!!!!!
Ultimate, eternal power, AND ultimate, eternal GOOD.Makes me want to go to church and worship today!
I love you, son.
I hope and pray that you grow in awe and love of our great God.
Dad

This was on a Sunday morning, and I was looking forward to worshipping at church...worshipping this God that is all-powerful, and yet loves me and has nothing but the best in store for me.

This let to a really cool conversation. Although he wasn't terribly wordy or eloquent this particular time, this is part of some incredible conversations we've been having.