Jealousy & Passion
Welcome back to another inspirational moment from historical Christian romance novels!
The Green-Eyed Monster
1 Corinthians 3:3 – You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
Paul had called the Corinthians infants in their faith because they were not yet spiritually mature. Jealousy can creep up on you or ignite in an instant. Either way, without God and a mature faith, you can easily be consumed with it. Without realizing it all your choices, words, and actions are centered around the green-eyed monster.
Julie’s wisdom character, Mrs. Gerson, is one you will fall in love with. She is the sweet elderly neighbor who is an honorary member of the O’Connor family. Her wisdom is poured into Faith and Marcy throughout the series. In the snippet below Faith is remembering her conversation with Mrs. Gerson as she struggles with her jealousy over her sister dating the man of her dreams. Let me clarify, Faith’s sister Charity is dating the man Faith has been in love with since they were children.
“My dear, anger is a natural human emotion we all experience,” Mrs. Gerson had told her. “The Bible says to be slow to anger and sin not, making it clear anger in itself is not a sin. It’s what we do with it that’s right or wrong. Do we become bitter, or do we forgive? Ah, but jealousy, now that’s a horse of quite a different color. Jealously is a condition of the heart involving so many things that stem the flow of God’s blessings—self-pity, an ungrateful heart, bitterness, and a lack of faith that God knows what’s best for you. Understand me, Faith, few people can stand before jealousy.”
(Julie Lessman, A Passion Most Pure, page 28)
Stand rooted in God’s word. Grow in your faith. Beat jealousy back with prayer!
Boundless Passion
Song of Solomon 1:2-4: Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—for your love is more delightful than wine. Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love you! Take me away with you—let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers.
If you are a fan of Julie’s work, then you know she packs her novels with passion. Not passion of the world, but God’s passion. We live in a fallen world and when we pursue its version of passion, we sell ourselves short of God’s boundless passion.
Yes, God is a passionate loving God and He intended for man and wife to experience that passion within the bounds of matrimony. If you don’t believe me then read Song of Solomon. Whew! That’s a love story packed with heat, desire, and passion! God put it in His word because He wants you to know that love and passion pursued according to His precepts is far more fulfilling than the passion of this world.
Faith is struggling with the feelings and desires Collin stirs in her. Check out just a snippet of Mrs. Gerson’s response to her. This is just a small piece of a great conversation between these two that you’ll want to read!
Mrs. Gerson tilted Faith’s face in her hands. “Dear Faith, those same wonderful feelings will knit you to your husband some day in a romantic bond that God intends. The feelings you experienced when this young man kissed you—the racing heart, the lightheadedness, the overpowering warmth and sense of the moment—these are all good things. Created by a God whose love for you, if you can imagine, far surpasses how Collin made you feel. God intended for these wonderful feelings to be experienced between a man and his wife. But we live in a fallen world, my dear. Many choose to pursue such feelings outside of God’s intent.”
(Julie Lessman, A Passion Most Pure, page 58)
The world’s passion is cheap leaving you alone to wallow in your guilt and shame. God’s passion is rich and pure leaving you in your lover’s arms basking in love and fulfillment.
There are so many more inspirational moments in Julie’s book, A Passion Most Pure. I could go on and on, but I will stop there. You are going to want to read this amazing love story, so I put a link below the blog post for this episode. However, I want to leave you with some words of wisdom from Mrs. Gershon.
“You know Brianna, I think of life as very much like a game. The one who created it gave us the rules by which it is to be played, rules designed to help us win, rules to help use be happy. The problem is many times we choose to play by our own rules, and then we’re at a loss to understand why we never win.”
(Julie Lessman, A Passion Most Pure, page 121)
Seriously, read this novel! If you want an inside look at a Passion Most Pure, be sure to catch episode 76 airing this Friday on Rumble and your favorite podcast platform. Until next time happy and blessed reading!
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