The 10th Commandment
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Exodus 20:17, NLT
“Covet” isn’t a word that is used much anymore. What it means is “desire to have something”. It’s very much like lust. (And in the case of your neighbor’s wife, it is! – not so much the donkey or ox – but it could be the same for the male or female servants.)
This may not seem all that bad on the surface of it but let me tell you that it usually leads to something much worse. If nothing else, it leads to discontentment. And God doesn’t want us to live that way. For example, discontentment can lead to anxiety or depression, which can lead to other more serious things, like substance abuse or suicide. Do I have your attention now?
What about theft, adultery, or murder? Those can all be consequences of allowing your covetousness to go unchecked.
As we move more toward a society of the “haves and have-nots”, there will be more and more of this coveting thing. It’s a very real problem and needs to be nipped in the bud (from the very first moment it rears its ugly head).
We could not begin to count the lives of young men and women that have been utterly destroyed by this sin. Many of them have ended up in prison for one crime or another that can stem from this condition.
Here’s what Paul wisely wrote to Timothy on this topic:
But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
1 Timothy 6:9-10, NLT
It’s that serious. Keep you heart in check regarding things that are not yours.
If you haven’t read this entire study on the Ten Commandments, I’d appreciate it if you would. Feel free to skip through it in any order. Comments are accepted.
Ever your servant,
Gary
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10th – do not covet
