Jealousy

According to Wikipedia, Jealousy is an emotion and typically refers to the negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, and anxiety over an anticipated loss of something that the person values, such as a relationship, friendship, or love. Jealousy often consists of a combination of emotions such as anger, sadness, and disgust. According to the same source jealousy should not be confused with envy which is (also called invidiousness) is best defined as an emotion that "occurs when a person lacks another's (perceived) superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it."[1]
Envy can also derive from a sense of low self-esteem that results from an upward social comparison threatening a person's self image: another person has something that the envier considers to be important to have. If the other person is perceived to be similar to the envier, the aroused envy will be particularly intense, because it signals to the envier that it just as well could have been he or she who had the desired object.[2

Both feelings are extremely destructive and have plagued mankind since Cain and Abel's tumultuous relationship in the begining of time. I have been thinking a lot about these issues during my current difficulties. I have always priding myself on bein a confident person who genuinely enjoys the successes of others and wishes them only the best. However, I must admit that I have had to put forth extra effort to avoid these feelings taking root in my psyche over the past several months. This has been very stressful because I genuinely believe that my life is guided and directed by God and that He will provide for me everything I am intended to have. So I don't need to worry about what others have and what others have accomplished because it does not affect me. But, I can feel the little green-eyed monster creeping up from time -to-time and I have to consciously talk myself out of these feelings. These feelings remind me of the fact that even though someone might be a Christian, we deal with a daily battle of not allowing ourself to fall into a pattern of sin. We are very susceptible to harboring sinful feelings like envy and jealousy and we can't always automatically not be tempted by these issues. So what do you do when you feel disturbing thoughts and feelings creeping into your mind.
1) The first step is to recognize that you are actually experiencing jealousy and envy. This seems simple but it actually might require a little insight into your own psyche. The jealousy and envy may mask themselves as irritation or undue criticism of the other person. You may also find yourself searching for some quality within the other person that you can feel a sense of superiority regarding. For example, you may repsond to news of another person's career sucess by focussing on their lack of a spous or children. It is crucial to be brutally honest with yourself and acknowledge that their sucess makes your current lack of sucess fell magnified and that you feel negative emotions toward the other person as a result.
2) Don't act on these feelings. You will need to give yourself some time to work through these feelings so it is important that you don't engage in any negative behavior that may be based on these feelings. You should not respond negatively to the person. You should not communicate your negative feelings to another third party. You should not take any actions to bring the other individual down a notch. It is normal to feel tempted but it is not okay to act out your temptation. Besides, you want to get a handle on these feelings before they begin to impact your behavior.
3) Ask yourself the ultimate question, ' How does this make me feel about myself?' This is a huge questions and it may cause you some distress. If you have difficulty doing this on your own, you may want to consult a trusted confidant and/or a counselor. I would spend conSIderable time sitting with this issue. Personally, I would spend significant time in prayer and reading my Bible. As a Christian, it is at this point that I would repent of these feelings. Repent means to acknowledge your sin, ask God to forgive you, ask for help to change your feelings, and to go on with the intention to not repeat the sin.
4) Take whatever steps necessary to improve your own situation so you will have less impetus to feel jealous and envious of others. Focussing on your own self-improvement also focusses your mind on more positive emotions and enables you to spend less time and enerygy worrying about others.
5) You can reapply these steps repetitively until they become routine.