"Jealousy just keeps building and building," says James, 10. "When it builds, it gets worse. One time, I was jealous of my sister because she had more candy. I asked her if I could have some, and she said `No.' I was so mad, I took some anyway, but she caught me eating it, so I gave her my candy."

Whether you're 10, 20, 30 or 60, the pressure exerted by harboring jealousy can explode into the most bizarre behavior. Motivating someone to steal is not the only way jealousy robs, says Marcus, 8: "Jealousy is like a robber, and it steals all your joy. It made me feel mad and scared of God. But I said I was sorry, and I feel better."

God wants us to be content and joyful in his presence. Jealousy's focus fails to account for God's sovereignty, longsuffering and justice. Centuries ago, the prophet Jeremiah asked, "Why does the way of the wicked prosper?"

The prosperity of the wicked seems to goad us to jealousy. If God is in control, why doesn't he zap the wicked into oblivion? OK, maybe oblivion is a little harsh. I'll settle for poverty. Make the wicked poor, God. If crooks weren't so rich, I'm sure I could be more content.

If God's judgment on the wicked were immediate, we wouldn't have trophies of grace like the Apostle Paul. If Paul had lived in the Old West, he would have been called a bounty hunter. What could be more wicked than hunting Christians to persecute them? What could demonstrate the transforming power of God's grace more than to turn the bounty hunter into the chief apostle?

"Cain was so jealous of his brother, he killed him because God took Abel's sacrifice and not his," says Jennifer, 10. The Genesis account of Cain's murder says he was "very angry" when God respected Abel's sacrifice, but not his. Even though the Genesis writer doesn't use the word "jealous" to describe the motive behind Cain's murder, does he really need to?

Instead of humbling himself to change and present a sacrifice acceptable to God, Cain slit his brother's throat and played dumb when God asked him about Abel's whereabouts. God doesn't issue quotas for acceptable sacrifices. He desires to bless us more than we want to be blessed. His bounty knows no limits. We're never in competition with anyone for God's blessings or approval.

"Rejoice with those who rejoice," the Apostle Paul wrote (Romans 12:15). "Body life" is a term some use to describe Paul's view of Christians as individual members of the figurative body of Christ, the church. In view of this spiritual body, Christians shouldn't compete with each other. Rather, we should build up the body by discovering our roles as team players and functioning in them.

"A new girl came to school, and my best friend started spending a lot of time with her," says Nicole, 11. "One day when we could work as partners, they got together and out of nowhere, I started to cry. My friend came over and started hugging me. That's when I knew she didn't forget about me. Since then, the new girl is one of my best friends."

We can't help how we feel about a close friend, but we can control how we think and what we do. What if Nicole had resorted to a slander campaign about the new girl or an angry outburst toward her best friend? She might be looking for two new friends.

"Jealousy drives some people crazy because they don't think they're loved or feel important," says Anna, 9.

When we're confident of God's love for us and his estimate of our importance, jealousy will take a holiday. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).