jealous love?

q:
i dunno if you're dating someone at the moment, but even if you don't, hypothetically - would you be indifferent if you found out she was screwing a random guy who didn't care about her, only wanted some action?

a:
Of course I would be upset if somebody I was dating was screwing somebody else, even if they cared about them, mostly because it is a betrayal of trust. I can tell this is a leading question, but I'm not sure where it's going.

q:
haha. so perceptive ;)

all i'm getting at is to give you a glimpse of how i understand the whole jealous god thing. i'm not saying you have to buy it - but here's how i see it:

when you're in love with someone, i think jealousy is a natural response to infidelity. i know that i go insane with jealousy, even when i only think that a guy i like is looking at other girls with interest. you know?

so i don't think god's jealousy is incongruous with his love. i think it's kinda necessary for it. he often speaks of his people as his bride - the most loving and exclusive of relationships. if he were indifferent to the hearts of his people, then that would be like me getting married to a guy who i only felt lukewarm about, and wouldn't mind him sleeping around on me. which hey, i'm sure there are marrieds who are like that, i just wouldn't be one of them.

the love that paul's talking about in corinthians is less like the exclusive love than it is the love you show to all people - like, the way i love my friends is different to the way i love my boyfriend. a fruit of my love for my boyfriend is that i wouldn't be cool with him screwing with other girls. in fact, i'd be excruciatingly jealous. and would probably unleash on him. (kind of the way god's reacted to the infidelity of his people - "wrath". also known as injured love. at least that's how i see it.)

but the way i love my friends? if i'm jealous of a friend because she is prettier or thinner than i am, then that jealousy actually cripples my ability to love her, without self-regard. it puts a barrier between us in our relationship because i'm resenting her, and being discontent with what i have. i'm not going to consider her before myself, because i'm harbouring this jealousy towards her.

and i don't think that's love.

so, yeah. just wanted to articulate that i think there's different contexts in which you love a person. and that jealousy is not always incompatible with love.

a:
So you're saying that God is love, but he's a certain type of love that is different from the type of love mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13:4? Why is it that the Bible doesn't make this difference clear?

q:
i'm saying that i think that there are many different shades within the colour of love. perhaps it's written with the understanding that we would get those differences, based on our experiences and relationships.

that's just what i think :)