Jealousy: Good Or Bad?

Jealousy is an emotion I don't often experience, but when I do, I testify that it is one of the strong ones. When you're wrapped in jealousy, there's nothing else you can think about. You can't be happy for the other person. Instead, you're bitter and bad humored and it's also an emotion very hard to get rid of because to accomplish this, you first have to accept it, and this is not always a thing you're willing to do. Jealousy can be good only when it's very subtle, weak enough only to avoid the object or person of interest from being too free. In this case, it's not exactly called jealousy, but protection (jealousy, in turn, can also be called overprotection). 

When God accepted that "Thou shalt not bow thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me" (Ex. 20.5), I think that he said he was jealous only because he didn't want anyone who followed him to follow anyone else. This is probably one of many conditions (commandments) which God explains to his people. God's case of jealousy is not negative in this case, for all he wants is to be the sole idol for his worshipers. He is not jealous of other idols for having his followers, for if other idols have followers, then those aren't his. In other words, he can never be jealous of another god or figure because even if someone worships him and the idol, then that person isn't really worshipping the Lord, for he wouldn't be following one of his commandments.