Thursday: Overcoming Covetousness
Covetousness is a matter of the heart and, like pride and selfishness, often goes unnoticed, which is why it can be so deadly and deceiving. It’s hard enough overcoming sins that are obvious: lying, adultery, stealing, idolatry, Sabbath breaking. But these are outward acts, things that we have to think about before we do them. But to overcome wrong thoughts themselves? That gets tough.
Read 1 Corinthians 10:13. What promise is given here, and why is this so important to understand in the context of covetousness?
How then, in God’s power, can we be protected against this dangerously deceptive sin?
- Make a decision to serve and depend on God and to be a part of His family. “Choose you this day whom ye will serve; … but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).
- Be daily in prayer and include Matthew 6:13, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.” When feeling covetous of something that you know you should not have, pray over it, claiming promises in the Bible for victory, such as 1 Corinthians 10:13.
- Be regular in Bible study. “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11, NKJV).
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Jesus tackled the human/sin problem. He was tempted on every point that we are tempted on. And for power to resist, He spent whole nights in prayerful communion with His Father. And Jesus didn’t leave this earth until He had both forged the way by example and then promised power to make it possible for every person to live a life of faith and obedience — to develop a Christlike character.
“Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:6-7, , NKJV).
| What, if any, have been the consequences in your own life from covetousness? What lessons have you learned? What might you still need to learn from them? |
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Perhaps the lesson this week has concentrated on dramatic covetous behavior, making it easy for us to excuse our own covetousness as of little consequence. But, as the wise man said:
One of the things that I have learned about driving cars is that you cannot watch the scenery. You tend to steer in the direction that your eyes are pointing. If you are looking at a beautiful lake while driving, that raises the possiblity that you will end up in the lake. If you want to stay safe you need to keep your eyes on the road. If you want to watch the scenery, then it's best to pull over and not divide your attention.
Likewise, with coveting. Keep your eyes on the direction you are traveling and not the things you want.
I think I mentioned earlier that the commandment on coveteousness actually rates two, "Thou shalt nots". And it is also interesting that it is related to your neighbour. In modern terms, covetous behaviour affects those who are closest to us. Our fellow workers, our church members, and our families. Maybe we don't get squashed by heaps of stones or end up dropping dead immediately, but if our covetous behavior results in broken relationships we may have to live with the consequences for a long time.
As Christians we need to not only pay attention to 1 Corinthians 10:13, as was suggested by the lesson, but also to verse 12 in the same chapter which states, "Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." It's easy for us to identify someone else whom the lesson of covetousness is for, but we have to be mindful of the condition of our own heart and remain very prayerful, asking God for strength to overcome our faults, and remain strong in faith and obedience.
I get completely lost when I leave my decisions to my "physical" human nature. True wisdom and peace are found only with the development of the spirit. With the fervent and constant search for the Holy Spirit, by means of studying of the Word and praying, I'm still not able to overcome my defects, but God can certainly give me that blessing. He gives to anyone who asks Him with a whole heart, which means not holding anything back from Him.
I think to help us “tackle the human/sin problem", all we have is our faith in the Word of God. By saying ‘all we have’, I mean all we have to rely on is our faith that that which Jesus showed us is worth our trust to establish in our own life.
Should my thoughts drift toward covetousness, I find it helpful to remember Phil.4:5-8: v.8
A quick, honest check of the heart and mind will reveal whether these thoughts produce anything good and to arrest them (give them up), if necessary. I learned to be content with what I have and am grateful every day for the blessings I have received. In my opinion, a content and grateful disposition, in itself, is the only safe place from which to start when assessing things of interest.
I think that entertaining/protecting a covetous disposition opens one's heart and mind up to want to satisfy one’s old, self-serving nature and displays its spirit of ‘competitiveness’ with others for goods or/and emotional satisfaction.
No matter what it is that we covet, unless it is helpful to increase the love for our God and our fellow man, it is not worth following up on and risk exposing ourselves to compromising our integrity. To be genuinely committed to living our Faith in all things we do goes a long way toward a satisfying relationship with God and man.
I'm surprised that the lesson author singles out the Tenth Commandment as being especially hard to observe, as if the other nine deal only with our deliberate actions. Certainly, the Sermon on the Mount teaches that we can violate any of the Commandments by our thoughts alone. For example, hatred is murder, and lust is adultery. I don't think it would be too much of a stretch to see thoughts of secular business as Sabbath violation, wrongful withholding of needed information as a malicious lie, etc.
So, if my analysis is correct, the entire law of God is impossible to keep without the indwelling presence of Christ, daily and hourly prayer, and complete dependence on Him.
Very true - I think we have a tendency to limit the law, perhaps so we feel good about keeping it. But if you look at the spirit of the law, we so often fail to measure up. Then there are the sins of omission... We really do need Jesus!
I think the lesson is not so much the tenth being the worst as it is apropos to giving back to the Lord. If we by making a decision to serve God, pray daily, and get into the Word daily. We have thus put on the armor of God to resist the temptations of covetousness(withstand the wiles of the devil). Ephesians 6:10-11. Thus by overcoming covetousness we are in a better position to give back to the Lord.