Thursday, January 22, 2026

Bible in a Year: ❏ Joshua 1-5 | ❏ Mark 14

Where does jealousy show up in your heart? 

If you are unsure, just take a scroll through social media and keep track of the thoughts that pop up in your mind. Maybe it’s the vacations everyone seems to be taking, the party you were left out of, or the sport that you or your team just aren’t quite good enough at. 

In a world that broadcasts the happy highlight reels of life, it’s so easy to drift into discontentment and jealousy. 

James 3:16 
For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. 

But take heart, because Jesus came to show us a new way to live free from the trap of jealousy. 

The “Parable of the Lost Son” rolls out a perfect picture of how God the Father lavishly loves all his children and offers a challenge for us to lay down our opinions and do the same for our brothers and sisters in Christ. In the parable, the youngest son shamed his father into giving him his inheritance and then used it for wild living. 

When the son ran out of money and came to his senses, he went back home. Instead of turning his youngest son away, the loving father ran out to meet him, embracing and kissing him. The father showered him with gifts and threw a party in his honor. 

The eldest son, whom the father also loved, was jealous and angry and refused to celebrate his brother’s return. You see, he had always done everything right and honorable in his father’s eyes.

Luke 15:31-32 
His father said to him, “Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’

Are you the younger son who wasted his blessings and feels lost and disconnected from his father?

Or are you the older son who thinks he’s worked hard enough to earn his father’s love?

Whichever son you relate to, God is asking you to release the jealousy, receive his unearned grace, and extend it to others. When you know who you belong to and how valuable you are in Christ, there is no need to be jealous anymore. Everything of value already belongs to you. 

Questions:
Where does jealousy show up in your life?

Who do you relate to in the story - the prodigal son or the elder brother? Why?

Next Steps:
Do something kind for someone you are having a hard time being happy for.

List three things you do or places you go that stir up jealousy in you. Consider fasting from them, if possible, and ask God for a new perspective. 

21 Days of Prayer and Fasting - Day 18
Today’s Prayer Focus: To Receive Power  

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for working within me. I am in awe of the changes you make possible in my heart, growing me to love you and others more. I praise you for saving me - for making salvation possible through your Son. Help me to share this gift with others. Teach me to desire what you desire. I trust you to give me the power to do all you ask of me. In Jesus' name, amen. 

Series Theme Verse:
Hebrews 2:1
So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.

This post was written by April Willer, a Perrysburg attendee and regular contributor to the Daily LivingItOut.