"You shall not covet your neighbour's house.
You shall not covet your neighbour's wife, or his manservant or maidservant,
his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour." (Exodus
20:17)
1. Brief
introductory note:
One thing you will never say or hear someone confess
is, “I have a covetous spirit. How can I overcome it?”
In the final commandment of the Ten Commandments
(The Decalogue) the key word “covet” is repeated, emphasising its importance.
Coveting signifies the strong desire to enjoy the person or thing coveted.
Whoever endeavours to deprive a man of his property by any means, lusts after
his neighbour’s wife, and endeavours to ingratiate himself into her affections,
and to lessen her husband in her esteem, and endeavours to possess the
servants, cattle, etc., of another in any clandestine or unjustifiable manner,
breaks this commandment.
This commandment does not forbid desire in general.
It’s the object of a strong desire that crosses the line into coveting. That’s
why specific objects are named in the verse. I have no right to possess my
neighbour's wife. Or his house. Or his servants. Or his animals.
2. We are
miserable:
If things could make us happy, we’d be in paradise
every day. We think “more is better.” To put it in other words, it seems the
more we have, the less we like it. If having more would make us happy, we would
never need the last commandment of the Decalogue. It is written for unhappy
people.
We think to ourselves, “If only I had......" We
can fill the blank with so many things, a new house, a new wife, a new job, a
new career, a new start in life. Oh how happy we’d be... If only!
No wonder we’re unhappy. No wonder we’re
discontented. No wonder we’re miserable. Coveting has done its evil work within.
It has bored its way into our soul, eating away our happiness, leaving us
empty, frustrated, and angry.
Coveting is an invisible sin. Most of the other sins
have some kind of visible manifestation. Coveting is invisible. It is the root
of all other sins.
Whenever a thing is forbidden it becomes desirable. That
which a man must not have becomes the very thing he now must have at all costs.
Coveting is the root of all other sins because it causes us to want that which
is forbidden.
4. It springs
from an ungrateful heart:
The covetous man doubts God’s wisdom, God’s
goodness, and God’s justice. God’s timing and ultimately God’s love.
Coveting is a terrible sin because it is a
surreptitious attack on God himself. Those who covet are saying, “God, you
haven’t taken care of me.” They are blaming God for his failure to meet their
needs.
5. Coveting
destroys life:
We live in the most technologically advanced
generation the world has ever known. No generation has been so advanced. No
generation has enjoyed the privileges we have today.
If having more could make you happy, we ought to be
the happiest generation. But we’re not. We’re miserable, neurotic, unhappy,
confused, and dissatisfied. We’re frustrated and extremely materialistic. Our
marriages fail, our homes break up, our children struggle, and our lives don’t
hold together. We have it all and yet it's still not enough. We ought to be
happy… but we’re not!
6. Guard your
heart:
This means pay attention to your desires. Every act
was once a thought; every purchase was once a desire; every foolish word was
once an idea. Coveting happens inside the heart when our desires begin to get
out of control. We must guard our hearts (our minds and thoughts) for it is the
starting point of all sins. We become what our minds dwell most upon.
Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for
it is the wellspring of life”.
The heart is the seat of the Lord of life and glory,
and the streams of spiritual life proceed from him to all the powers and
faculties of the soul. Watch with all diligence, that this fountain be not
sealed up, nor these streams of life be cut off.
This verse is principally referring to the evils
which proceed from the heart, and which must be guarded against. If the heart
is pure and holy, all its purposes will be just and good. If it be impure and
defiled, nothing will proceed from it but abomination.
7. Your
checklist for life:
a) Don't compare what you have with what others
have. A saying goes, "What makes us discontented with our condition is the
absurdly exaggerated idea we have of the happiness of others." You can
never be content or have peace of mind as long as you keep comparing yourself
and your properties with those of your neighbours.
b) Avoid impulsive desires to spend more money.
Don't make excuses for your greed.
c) Don't justify your foolish purchases.
d) Don't pass unfair judgments on those who have
more than we do. You have no idea what trials they may be going through.
e) Stop lying to yourselves about things which you
need when in reality they are not needs but endless wants.
f) Do not allow yourself to be swept away by foolish
desire. Learn how to say “No".
8. What is
contentment?
Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want,
but the realization of how much you already have. It is putting your trust in
God to meet all your needs and thereby helping you avoid stress and preventing
you from hunting for happiness in all the wrong places. Benjamin Franklin said,
"Content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor."
9. Paul found
sufficiency in Christ:
In Philippians 4:11-13 we learn that Paul had
learned to be content with what God provided, irrespective of circumstances.
Significantly, Paul had to learn this virtue; contentment is not natural to
most of us. Paul truly understood what it was to be in want and to have plenty.
He had learned how to trust God in every particular situation and all
situations as a whole. In Stoic philosophy, "content" described a
person who accepted impassively whatever came. Circumstances that could not be
changed were regarded as God's will, and fretting was useless. This philosophy
fostered a self-sufficiency in which all the resources for coping with life
were located within a person. In contrast, Paul locates his sufficiency in
Christ, who provides strength for believers.
10. The remedy
for covetousness:
Today coveting is one of the most prevalent and
destructive sins. We covet money, status, and success, possessions, and
pleasure without limits. What is the answer to the curse of covetousness? The
answer is contentment. You can’t be content and covet at the same time. You can
be contented or you can covet, but you can’t do both. The way to control our
coveting, the desire for all forbidden fruit, is to practice its opposite,
which is contentment. Contentment is a rare quality in today’s culture, but it
is extremely liberating.
11. Start being
generous:
Would you like to experience the joy of freedom from
coveting? Start by giving something away to the needy. Then do it again and
again. Coveting can’t stay inside a generous heart!
1 Timothy 6:18 “Command them to do good, to be rich
in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share”.
Paul's instruction to Timothy is that the well-to-do
must relieve the wants of their fellow human beings, according to the abundance
which God has blessed them with. This is the highest luxury a person can enjoy
on this side of the grave.
12. Ask God to
give you a grateful heart:
We aren’t grateful because we’ve never asked God to
give us a grateful heart. By nature, we are covetous, greedy, grasping, and
unhappy. We need hearts filled with gratitude for God's grace, love, mercy, and
for all the blessings he has bestowed upon us, more especially for the blessing
from the cross.
In conclusion:
Contentment doesn't mean that you cannot pursue
God-given goals, but it does mean that you are content with what he has
provided you with, day after day. Contentment simply means, "Be happy with
what you have." The “Contentment Prayer” by George Herbert sums up
everything in a few words.
"Lord Jesus, you have given so much to me. Give
one thing more, a grateful heart. Amen."
There are two tents and we can choose which tent to
live in-- the tent of contentment or the tent of discontentment. Ask yourself
today whether you are living in the tent of contentment or the tent of
discontentment.
