The Tenth Commandment

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Let us examine ourselves this morning in light of the tenth commandment, which is:
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 belongs to your neighbor (Ex. 20:17)
To covet, means to have a strong desire for something that doesn’t belong to you.

The tenth commandment illustrates what we have said before concerning all the commandments: they not only have to do with our deeds, that is, with our works or our behavior—what we do with the body; but also with our inward desires and affections—what we do with our hearts and minds.

The gist of the commandment is that we not be envious or jealous of our neighbor’s good fortune, but guard ourselves against all improper affections for what belongs to him, and that we be content with what we have.

How is it with you? Do you have a godly contentment? Or are you constantly looking at what other people have and finding yourself discontent with your lot in life so that you devise ways to acquire for yourself what rightly belongs to someone else?

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