Thou Shall Not Covet:

As I have mentioned throughout some time, my church has currently been working through the ten commandments as a sermon series.  They finished it up this last week with the last three of the ten commandments, “thou shall not steal,” “thou shall not give false testimony,” and “thou shall not covet.”  This was a great sermon to cover the sins that sometimes we don’t give a lot of weight to as Christians.  These are all the three commands we often don’t follow to the best of our ability and maybe don’t even think they hold much weight in our Christian walk.  

If we are completely honest, many of us have lied and have stolen before.  Even if we are not stealing from a store or another business, we may have taken things that are not ours if we find it, or we steal time from our job, etc.  We also have lied, even if this is lying to ourselves.  Sometimes we lie in order to make ourselves feel better or we lie to look more impressive to other individuals.  While they may not seem like major lies, they are lies nonetheless.  

And all of us have definitely coveted, maybe even multiple, multiple times a day.  It can be really easy to fall into the trap of wanting what others have, or being able to do the things others can do.  Then we are spending a lot of our time being concerned and focused on others, while our own mental health and good thoughts start to go down.  We start to only focus on what others have as opposed to what we have and the opportunities we have from God.  

My pastor brought up a very good point about coveting.  When we covet, it is a sin of the heart.  Most of the time besides moments of bitterness, there aren’t many outward signs of coveting.  However, there are a lot of inward signs of coveting, and our heart is definitely impacted by us when we are coveting or are jealous of someone else.  Once we start to covet, it can be easier to lie to others about the money we don’t have, or to even steal the items we have most desired.  These coveting thoughts are what lead us to sin more and more.  

There are many verses about coveting and being aware of the love of possessions.  One of those verses is Luke 12:15 which says, “And he said to them, ‘Take heed and beware of all covetousness, for a person’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions’” It is important to remember that we can have possessions.  God blesses us with these multiple possessions for a reason.  However, we can never make these possessions more important than Christ and the love he has for us.  

This reminds us all that Jesus looks at the heart in all things.  He wants our love and our attention.  He wants us to be fully devoted to Him, and we can’t be fully connected or fully devoted to God when we are coveting the things or the skills other individuals have.  This means we can’t put it above others and we certainly can’t put it above Christ.  One of the times we show when we are putting other things above Christ is when we show we are coveting others and their stuff, or others and their skills, or others and their opportunities.  God has given us exactly what he has planned for us individually.  

The challenge for the week is to spend time thinking about what you could be coveting.  Is there anything in particular you covet on a regular basis?  Is there something you are desiring and hoping for consistently?  Is there someone you wish you were more like?  Are they hard to be around because of your jealousy?  If so, what are some ways this can be changed?

Then the second challenge is to spend time in gratefulness, even on the days and the times we find the most challenging or when we are really filled with feelings of covetousness.  This is the time we need to make sure to reflect on the good things we have in our lives and the good Christ has done in us. For example, I recently was a bit jealous of my fellow runners who just finished a full marathon this last weekend.  However, I then remembered the many opportunities I have had to run this year.  God has blessed me, and I can’t be overly concerned where others are at with their blessings.  That won’t help me become a better runner or a better Christian.  I pray all of you lose the shackle feeling of covetousness these next few days.