LIFE SCRIPTS

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Exodus 20:17 NIV
https://exodus.bible/exodus-20-17.

Perhaps coveting is a habit we rarely critique today because we practise it so effectively. Our world has become materialistic. There’s nothing wrong with desiring wealth but when the desire drives our every nerve then something’s wrong. Coveting is openly practiced even in church where congregants ‘claim’ and ‘possess’ what they deem attractive even if it belongs to others. Little thought is put into what God really desires for us. Instead our own desires play the substitute. What makes coveting a sneaky vice is it hides deep within our psyche. We become so accustomed to it that it forms part of our lives. At times we’re forced to chase after possessions because of pressure from peers around us. So when a young man lands a job, his utmost desire would be to own a car to fit in…to buy a house in the leafy neighborhood to fit in…to go to the most exquisite clubs to fit in. Suddenly one’s transformed into an animal literally driven by instincts desiring whatever they think will give them status. Coveting has driven many of us to the sin of adultery. We marry wives but always think that the grass is greener on the other side. Coveting is sin. It must be called out for what it truly is.