Envy

Do not covet your neighbor's house. Do not covet your neighbor's wife, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. (Exodus 20:17)

The 10th commandment leads us deeper still into the heart from which we sin against each other. People lie to each other because there is something they want that they think they can't get by legitimate means. People steal because they want the property of others. They have affairs because they want another person's spouse. Murders normally happen either because of anger caused by one of the above or by some other desire we have that is unfulfilled (James 4:1-2).

Some people think that Jesus was saying something radically new in the Sermon on the Mount (which we will look at next week) when he said that it is not enough to obey the commandments in your actions, you must obey them in your hearts. In fact, He was not saying something new, He was just restating what the 10th commandment already said: that God wants changed hearts, not just changed behavior.

Starter Prayer:

Father, you are all that we need, yet our lives are so easily consumed by the desire for what we do not have. Forgive us. Help us to be content with what we have because we have You and that is enough. Help us to rejoice in your goodness to others.