Exodus 20:17
17 “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 is your neighbor's.”
Not only is adultery forbidden, but we are not to covet our neighbor's wife. This goes beyond the external behaviors like adultery and stealing, to attitudes of the heart. It is easy to read some of the previous commandments and think that I am doing pretty well, but this last commandment is much harder. We are confronted with the fact that even if we clean up our external behaviors so that we look pretty good to the outside world, if we don't have a heart change then we will still fall short. Our desires are just as important to God as our actions.
There is another instructional aspect to this commandment, and that is how it connects lust to greed and envy. The desire for another's wife is related to the desire for another's house and possessions. Our lustful desires are often driven by a sense of emptiness, and we think that "if we have _____ then we will be happy". This is the message promoted by our materialistic media, which feeds our appetite for never-ending consumption. But the truth is that joy and peace must be rooted in the here and now. When we compare ourselves to others we become trapped in a never-ending spiral of desire. We may briefly enjoy the accomplishment of gaining the trophy wife or big house, but soon we will want a new upgrade. Peace only comes when we learn to be content with what God has given us.
Lord, this is a hard commandment. I confess that I often do covet things that I don't have, and that I should not have. Help me to be content with what You have blessed me with.
17 “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 is your neighbor's.”
Not only is adultery forbidden, but we are not to covet our neighbor's wife. This goes beyond the external behaviors like adultery and stealing, to attitudes of the heart. It is easy to read some of the previous commandments and think that I am doing pretty well, but this last commandment is much harder. We are confronted with the fact that even if we clean up our external behaviors so that we look pretty good to the outside world, if we don't have a heart change then we will still fall short. Our desires are just as important to God as our actions.
There is another instructional aspect to this commandment, and that is how it connects lust to greed and envy. The desire for another's wife is related to the desire for another's house and possessions. Our lustful desires are often driven by a sense of emptiness, and we think that "if we have _____ then we will be happy". This is the message promoted by our materialistic media, which feeds our appetite for never-ending consumption. But the truth is that joy and peace must be rooted in the here and now. When we compare ourselves to others we become trapped in a never-ending spiral of desire. We may briefly enjoy the accomplishment of gaining the trophy wife or big house, but soon we will want a new upgrade. Peace only comes when we learn to be content with what God has given us.
Lord, this is a hard commandment. I confess that I often do covet things that I don't have, and that I should not have. Help me to be content with what You have blessed me with.