Christmas looks joyful with decorations, yet the first Christmas was marked by deep jealousy. King Herod, threatened by the birth of a new “King of the Jews,” allowed jealousy to lead him to violence. Later, Jesus Himself was crucified out of envy. Jealousy is not only Herod’s problem—it lives quietly in our hearts. Yet God loves us with a holy jealousy, not to control us, but to give us life. When we lift our eyes from comparison and fix them on Christ, true joy replaces jea