Jealousy

The next part of the commandment continues on stating :

"...thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife..." Exodus 20:17

Now again, this is similar to my last article, except now you are replacing possessions with a person. I thought this is an important point to make. On one level, it is the exact same sin as any other covetousness, the primary difference is that now you are additionally committing the sin of devaluing a human being as if they are a thing to have or obtain, that who someone's spouse is makes them lesser or greater. 

This is not uniquely a male trait either. Their are women who envy the husbands of other women. Furthermore their are those that envy the children of others too. They envy the apparent affection they see in others lives, or the means that they have, or their circumstances, or any number of other things. 

Your happiness or unhappiness is not determined by the circumstances of others, and having what others possess is not going to make you happier. We should not be displeased that others have good things. We should learn to be happy that they are happy. We need to learn how to be satisfied with what we have and to be pleased that other have what they are blessed with.  

Jealousy is a fear that you will loose something to someone else.   But the truth is if we fear to loose something, we have lost already. Fear is the opposite of faith, and faith leads to joy and happiness. So if we want to be happy, we have to let go of our jealousies.