Thou Shalt Not Covet; Thou Shalt Not Steal (7 of 8)
Series: The Ten Commandments from a New Testament Perspective
Eddie Snipes
Coveting and stealing are closely related. The majority of the time when someone gives into the temptation to steal, the first step was to covet. The word covet means to have a desire for, long for, lust after or sigh after something that does not belong to you. Coveting is an inward temptation of the heart and mind and the result of coveting causes people to envy, steal, commit adultery or even kill. Coveting is the fuel that leads to many sins. Let's look at God's command not to covet as found in Deuteronomy 5:
21 ' You shall not covet your neighbor's wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.'
The Bible tells us that the eyes of man are never satisfied. If we look at our own lives and the lives of the culture around us, we can see that this is absolutely true. A few years back a study was conducted where people in each economic level were polled and asked how much money would it take to satisfy them? The answer was almost identical for every person; each one thought that if they could double their income, they would be happy. The truth is that you will never be happy as long as you are striving for the things of this life. You cannot satisfy human nature. Our desires of the flesh can be temporarily gratified but never satisfied. As soon as the excitement of your gain wears off, you will want more. In our desire for more, covetousness is born.
I once heard a woman who called in to a radio broadcast who went on a tirade about how she despised rich people. She hated to see their houses, fancy cars and nice clothes when she was struggling to get by. She ended her tirade by saying, "I would give up everything I own just to see the rich lose their BMW's. That would make me happy." No it would not. If this were to h ...
Series: The Ten Commandments from a New Testament Perspective
Eddie Snipes
Coveting and stealing are closely related. The majority of the time when someone gives into the temptation to steal, the first step was to covet. The word covet means to have a desire for, long for, lust after or sigh after something that does not belong to you. Coveting is an inward temptation of the heart and mind and the result of coveting causes people to envy, steal, commit adultery or even kill. Coveting is the fuel that leads to many sins. Let's look at God's command not to covet as found in Deuteronomy 5:
21 ' You shall not covet your neighbor's wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.'
The Bible tells us that the eyes of man are never satisfied. If we look at our own lives and the lives of the culture around us, we can see that this is absolutely true. A few years back a study was conducted where people in each economic level were polled and asked how much money would it take to satisfy them? The answer was almost identical for every person; each one thought that if they could double their income, they would be happy. The truth is that you will never be happy as long as you are striving for the things of this life. You cannot satisfy human nature. Our desires of the flesh can be temporarily gratified but never satisfied. As soon as the excitement of your gain wears off, you will want more. In our desire for more, covetousness is born.
I once heard a woman who called in to a radio broadcast who went on a tirade about how she despised rich people. She hated to see their houses, fancy cars and nice clothes when she was struggling to get by. She ended her tirade by saying, "I would give up everything I own just to see the rich lose their BMW's. That would make me happy." No it would not. If this were to h ...
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