By David ReayWednesday 26 Jun 2013LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read Deuteronomy 5:21
“You must not covet your neighbor’s wife. You must not covet your neighbor’s house or land,male or female servant,ox or donkey,or anything else that belongs to your neighbor. (NLT)
For some of us,the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Others’ marriages are better than our own. Others’ children are models of Christian conduct whereas our own push the boundaries. Other people succeed in business,get more money,have better health and fewer problems than we do.
Of course this is only our perception. Those other ordered and settled lives might have their own dark corners. There may be brown patches amidst that green grass. This is one reason we are to avoid coveting what others have. It may be that they don’t have what we reckon they have! We are coveting a fiction.
But beyond that,we are commanded not to covet what belongs to someone else because it often arises out of a greedy spirit. It can even lead to adultery or theft or lying as we seek to acquire what is not really ours to possess.
Also,a spirit of covetousness betrays a lack of gratitude for what we already have. If I focus on what others have I may neglect what I have. I may see only the bad in what is mine and only the good in what belongs to someone else. Compulsive and covetous comparisons are the death of true contentment.
Blessings
David Reay