With this column we close out our contemporary commentary on the Big Ten, the Ten Commandments. The final commandment, you shall not covet, is the only one that deals with inner thoughts and motivations. All the other nine commandments relate to exterior behavior and action. No one knows you are abiding by the last commandment except God and you. Yet, a full blown violation of this commandment can lead to violations of several commandments like the prohibition against stealing, adultery, and murder. The tenth commandment takes awareness that as a man thinks, so he is.

The Message Bible renders the last commandment as, "No lusting after your neighbor's house - or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Don't set your heart on anything that is your neighbor's" (Exodus 20:17). Forty years later, the final commandment took on a bit different twist, "No coveting your neighbor's wife. And no lusting for his house, field, servant, maid, ox, or donkey either - nothing that belongs to your neighbor."

After wandering in the wilderness for forty years, the last commandment was reshaped to address growing awareness among the Hebrews: that the wife has priority over the house (and this was after 40 years of walking and living aimlessly in the desert) and the idea of not lusting after the neighbor's field was added to the list. Note there's nothing about coveting your neighbor's husband or "her" ox or field. And you know why. Women were just a notch above consideration as property. So, how could property own property?

God wanted his people to be free from envy. "If the people of God cannot be free from envy on the part of one another, where should freedom be found? Yet it is often true that among religious people, even among those who serve in leadership positions, envy and jealousy are more detrimental than among some groups who make no identification with the Lord," stated Dr. Roy L. Honeycutt in his book, These Ten Words.

Coveting is different from possessing a holy desire to have a nice home much like someone down the street. It's different from desiring a wife like the one that married dear old dad. It's different from aspiring for a position in the company similar to a vice presidency. The Tenth Commandment does not mitigate dreams, aspirations, hopes, and fervent desires. So, what's the rub?

Commandment Ten prohibits a thought pattern which envisions the taking away of someone's wife and making her your own wife. It prohibits a thought process that sees the vice president getting canned and you getting the job. Essentially, it prohibits thinking that says, "What's yours should be mine and I intend to do something about it." How many marriages have been wrecked by the machinations of coveting someone's wife or husband that does not belong to you? How many careers have been sabotaged by corporate coveting? How many automobiles have been stolen by people who just could not live without having a set of hot wheels that did not belong to them?

While the majority of folks won't actually go and steal something that does not belong to them, although secretly coveting whatever in their hearts, relationships will and do suffer. For example, someone has a great intellect - an intellect that you perhaps covet, wish were your own. But since you cannot replace your brain with his, you become jealous of him, often times costing a wonderful relationship. It's difficult for poor people to have genuine relationships with rich people for this very reason: jealousy hinders personal intimacy.

To protect one from the perils of coveting, you have to have a backup plan. Let me suggest some facets of a backup plan.

First, be genuinely thankful for what you have. In your gratitude don't fall for comparing yourself to less fortunate people. Why does it take a mission trip to a third world country to make us thankful? Be thankful for the spouse, house, car, and whatever you have. I often thank God as I finish showering for I believe showering is such a delightful privilege.

Be on your guard when you encounter people who have a lot more than you do. Be prepared to deal with your heart for its temptation will be to envy what does not belong to you. Demonstrate your appreciation for the beauty and quality of goods and possessions. Thank God that he chose to bless them with such things. Ask God to continue to bless them. If your friend has a wife it seems is ten times as wonderful as your own, thank God that your friend was so blessed and then thank God for the wife God gave you.

Take your heart to task. Don't allow the heart's envy to destroy your peace of mind and your kind relationships. It won't be worth it. The antidote to coveting is thankfulness and a spirit of blessing. Go for that and you will be happy with what you have.

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