We build walls in our homes to stabilize the structure of the house. I remember when there were multiple rooms in a home, each with its own particular purpose; nowadays, we tend to have more of an open concept design with larger roomy areas with multiple uses. Our home has that and is very nice especially with a large number of people because everyone can be in the same area. The drawback is that while one is cooking and visiting in the kitchen it sometimes makes it harder for others to hear the television. We also want our homes built sturdy and strong to protect us from the elements of the weather and potential uninvited intruders.

Our emotions and mind can also build walls. Walls of jealousy, timidity, anger, greed, fear of rejection, and the list goes on and on. In the beginning we think these walls will protect us from being hurt again, but in reality they bring more hurt and bondage to our very being. We must be careful to guard against our “walls of protection” breaking down our stability, confidence, love, peace, joy, and even our faith. We must recognize that the walls we build “to protect us” can just as easily hinder us from becoming all that God plans for us.

When we look at King Saul, we see that when he allowed himself to turn away from God, the wall of jealousy arose to rule his emotions to the point where he was willing to kill David, the next anointed king. (1 Samuel 16:13) However, his son Jonathan, who was in the natural line to be the next king, recognized God’s anointing on David to be king, and he built the wall of friendship with love and loyalty with David, even to the point of saving David’s life! (1 Samuel 20)

Proverbs 6:34 teaches that man’s jealousy makes him enraged with furry, rage, and anger. Man’s jealousy is based in selfishness and results in desires to promote one’s own self at the cost of others. This natural human jealousy produces sinfulness in our heart, and often put us at odds with others; whereas, when our jealousy is based on our desire to be with God, it will draw us to Him and produce His attributes within us. Deuteronomy 5:9 informs us that God is a jealous God, but because His jealousy is grounded in His righteousness and holiness, His jealousy is “for” us to bring us good, rather than against us to bring us harm.

We also read in Matthew 20:20-28 where a mother had such zeal for her two sons to be prosperous and receive recognition that she asked Jesus to grant them to sit on each side of Him when He entered kingdom. This in turn caused friction between all the disciples, and in verses 25-27, Jesus taught His disciples that “whosoever will be great among them must be a servant.” This is still true today. If we want to be great like Jesus then we will have to serve like Jesus served.

We understand that a person can have such a zeal based on man’s traditions, that they cannot see the Lord for who He really is, as in the case of Saul of Tarsus who searched out and persecuted Christians – until he met Jesus face to face on the Road to Damascus. (Acts 9) Meeting Jesus face to face truly does change us all!

Each of us must search our own heart to see if there is any wicked way in us (any walls of jealously, anger, pride, covetousness, greed, etc.) and repent of such things as God reveals any to us. We do need to have a zeal for God and His Kingdom, but let us build spiritual walls of holiness, righteousness, love, mercy, forgiveness in our lives that serve not only to protect us but that also draws others to the saving grace of God, and brings glory to God.