Thou Shall Not Covet – July 08, 2001
The Ten Commandments undergird both the Jewish and the Christian faiths. This great code of law sets forth nine actions that God’s people are admonished to do, or to refrain from doing. One commandment, however, deals not with an action, but with an emotion. What emotion could be so dangerous that we are specifically warned against it?
In the tenth commandment, the Lord declares, “Thou shalt not covet . . . any thing that is thy neighbor’s.”1 One great danger in covetousness is that it can lead to forbidden acts, such as stealing, adultery, and murder. Around the world, generation after generation, the greed of one group for that which belongs to another has led to terrible feuds, violence, and bloodshed.
But on a less extreme level, a covetous heart can cause even a good person to search in the wrong place for happiness. Coveting the grass that looks greener on the other side of the fence, we may fail to find our peace and joy in the only places it can be found—within ourselves, within our own home, and in our faith.
Perhaps the emotion furthest from covetousness is rejoicing—rejoicing in another’s good fortune. This feeling arises naturally in most of us on certain occasions: at the happy birth of a neighbor’s baby, with the glad marriage of a couple we know, or when a hometown girl or boy wins a special victory.
When we rejoice in our neighbors’ blessings, we can make a point of expressing our happiness for others. Then covetousness will fade, leaving us the warm glow of shared gladness.
Program #3751
1. Exodus 20:17.