Devotional – Coveting

Devotional

Big picture God’s 10th Commandment means not coveting other people’s stuff, including their house.

• Q: Have you ever wanted something that someone else had that you did not have?
  • give an example
• Q: Have you ever heard about peoples’ homes getting robbed by burglars stealing things?
• Stealing is very bad as we all know. But many people don’t realize that coveting stuff that others have is kind of like stealing from someone in your mind. It’s using your imagination in a bad way.
• Coveting means you are envious of what someone else has. You see it and want it. It also means you are not satisfied with what God has given you. A covetous person is an ungrateful person.
• Most robbers started out coveting other people’s stuff. They want stuff, but they cannot get it. They think, “if I only had what they have, then I would be happy!” Their coveting builds and builds inside them like a bad dream that won’t go away. Until they have to have whatever it is they are coveting, and so they try to steal it.
• That is why God gets so upset about coveting, because it ALWAYS leads to bad things.
• Coveting is a sin, but we think we can hide it by keeping it in our mind. People think, its ok, because it doesn’t hurt anybody. It’s just thinking badly. But that is so wrong!
• Because, God knows once you start coveting what other people have (like their house or other stuff), then eventually something bad is going to happen (inside of you or outside). Because coveting rots you from the inside out. It literally eats you up inside, until you must act on it.
• But you can stop coveting. Coveting doesn’t have to own you. Gratefulness is the antidote for coveting. When you are thankful to God for what He has given you, your house, your car, your family, your belongings, then you can prevent yourself from ever coveting what someone else has.
• You should never use the excuse for not keeping your home looking nice, that someone else may covet your house and steal from you. There is no commandment against keeping your house maintained. However, there are Bible verse about being lazy, about not keeping your stuff in good shape by not doing a good job.
• Jesus died for our sins, including the sin of coveting. But we need to be grateful and repent of sins.