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Jealousy is a feeling we have experienced since we were unable to put it into words. From envying the kid whose parents seemed more caring because he had cooler toys to envying the person with a better job, a good-looking spouse, or a nicer car, the flame of jealousy has bruised our hearts for different reasons along the way.
We experience jealousy because it is part of being created in the image of God. God gets jealous too. In fact, He identified Himself as a jealous God when He revealed His name as El Qanna in Exodus 34:14. This can be confusing, considering the nature of jealousy often stems from lack. However, God specifically said He gets jealous when we worship other things, and there seems to be no lack of worship according to the Bible (Revelation 4:8, Isaiah 6:3).
Worship, by nature, requires full devotion to the one deemed worthy. Since God created us out of His abundant love, He has always devoted Himself to humanity, even to the point of offering His only Son so we could clearly see His loving heart. In return for His devotion, He expects us to worship Him with hearts fully devoted to Him. God cannot bear to see us belong to others when He created us to be His. While jealousy is usually associated with lack, God’s jealousy can only be understood as stemming from love, not lack.