The following is for a Christian publication read by 8-12 year olds. The topic is: Jealousy.
The Green-Eyed Monster
Jessica slammed her bedroom door, dropped her backpack and books on the floor, and threw herself upon her bed. As the bed bounced back, Jessica felt the salty tears streaming down. She took a deep breath and wiped her face, but it was too late. Her mascara left her looking like a raccoon and her feeble attempts at calming herself were interrupted by short, staccato breathing.
The thing she didn’t understand was: where had her popularity plan gone wrong?
Jessica had friends, but was not considered popular by her peers. In her struggle to fit in she had concocted a plan that was seamless, or so she thought. She would transform herself into one of the popular crowd.
First, she would change her looks. Jessica read a ton of magazines and watched make-over shows on TV. All the popular girls had great, designer clothing, perfect hair and no glasses. Jessica wanted to have the same. After hours of pleading, her mom finally gave into the idea. The new clothing was pretty but very uncomfortable, and the contacts only made her eyes itch. The biggest issue was that she didn’t feel like herself. Not letting it bother her, Jessica moved to the next phase: join a club, or two.
The popular crowd of girls weren’t part of just any club, they were members of Cheerleading or SADD or Student Government. Jessica was already a member of the Drama Club, Fermatas (the show choir) and the Bible Club, but none of those worked for her popularity plan.
Elections for Student Government had already taken place and SADD wasn’t accepting new members, so when basketball cheerleading tryouts were announced Jessica was one of the first to sign her name to the list. She practiced her cheer routine again and again, but her inability to do a back-bend nor the splits was only the beginning of her disastrous audition.
Jessica was not very coordinated, nor was she a skinny stick like the other girls, so she looked quite ridiculous during her pom pom routine. Granted she thought she did a mean set of choreography to “Operator” by The Manhattan Transfer, but Jessica clearly proved she did not fit the needs of the squad.
Her last hope was to attend a party thrown by a popular person. Jessica immediately thought of Valerie. The two had gone to school with each other since Kindergarten. By 5th grade Valerie had found a new set of friends and left Jessica to fend for herself during recess and after school. Valerie had a party all the time, or so it seemed. So Jessica figured that their old friendship might bring an invite to her next bash, which was this Saturday.
After school Jessica approached Valerie at her locker. Unfortunately Valerie was with her new, popular group of friends.
“Hey Val,” Jessica stated.
“Hi Jess,” answered Valerie accompanied by snickers from her friends.
“I heard you are having a party tomorrow, and I was hoping I could come and bring my mom's 7-layer chili dip!” Jessica knew it sounded pathetic, inviting herself and all, but it was the best she could do under the circumstances.
“Umm..” started Valerie. She turned around to her other friends and they whispered with each other. It made Jessica extremely uncomfortable.
“Umm,” began Valeria again, “I think the party is all set with food.”
“Oh,” said Jessica flatly.
“Sorry, Jess...guess I’ll see ya around,” called Valerie as she walked away. Her comment was joined by a few nasty comments from the group of girls. “Yeah, see ya Bible girl.” “Don't have too much fun at home with your mom and the chili dip, four eyes!”
Jessica ran the entire way home. She was completely hurt and humiliated. How could she be so stupid as to think that she could change how people saw her? Why couldn’t she be more popular!
Just then her door quietly opened. “May I come in?” her mother asked.
“I guess so,” Jessica sadly replied.
“I couldn't help but hear your rather dramatic entrance earlier. Would you like to talk about it?”
“Nah, I don't think you'd understand,” Jessica said.
“Try me,” her mother challenged.
So Jessica explained to her mother about her popularity plan, and her many pathetic attempts at trying to become someone else.
“Well, it seems to me that you have a case of the green-eyed monster,”
“What is that, some weird eye infection?”
“No, Jess, the green-eyed monster is another term for jealousy. When you are envious of something someone else has, you are green with envy!”
“Oh mom, you are so old-fashioned!” exclaimed Jessica.
“I might be old-fashioned, my dear, but jealousy is nothing new. In fact, the Bible has scripture on the subject. The tenth commandment given to Moses tells us not to covet or desire what others have. And in Philippians, Paul wrote that we should be content with who we are and what we have.”
“Oh mom,” Jessica sighed, “didn't you ever just want to fit in?”
“Of course I did. Everyone wants to feel included. But people should be your friend because of who you are, not what you have or what you look like. And you have friends at school that accept you for who you are. That matters a lot more than being popular.”
“I know, mom, it’s just..” Jessica began.
“Jess,” her mom interrupted and she pulled her daughter close. “Jesus wasn’t popular, but that didn’t stop him from preaching the gospel. Being a Christian might not be popular, but it is who we are. God can see this in your heart.”
Jessica took her Bible from her nightstand and turned to Philippians.
“Thanks mom, I think I have some reading to do,” Jessica said.
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