Exodus 20:17 (KJV)
Thou Shall Not Covet
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
St. Paul said had he not read Scripture and Mosaic Law, he would not have known that coveting was a sin...He says: Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law...For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet."...But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire...For apart from law, sin is dead...
“Thou shalt not covet.”...As we read the Ten Commandments, they end with the prohibition against covetousness, the desire to have the wealth or possessions of someone else...But the coveting command goes farther than merely forbidding covetousness, giving examples of things we might covet: Your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor...Those particulars in the Tenth Commandment help explain covetousness so that we understand God’s intent and why covetousness is sin...And today we would say, we should not covet our neighbors wife, as well as any of their possessions including their wealth, because wealth was often measured in Biblical Times by the number of sheep, goat, ox, or donkeys (or service animals) you might possess...Having an attitude of wanting more material things through coveting can created resentment and jealously toward our neighbors and our LORD...The love of wanting more and more is not a happy, healthy life and does not lead to a happy life...
St. Paul tells Timothy about the deep problems of coveting...Godliness with contentment is great gain in one's life...For we are brought into the world with nothing, and we can take nothing out of the world, when we die...But if we have food and clothing throughout our lives, we will be content with that...Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and the harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction...For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil...Some people, eager for money, have wandered from their faith and pierced themselves with many griefs...
As we follow Jesus and His teachings, we see that He did not covet what others had...He lived a humble life without complaining and was content...Jesus is Divine...He did not brag about who He was as He taught others about God and Himself...He could have overpowered anyone He ever came in contact with in many ways...With His knowledge, He could have out answered anyone on earth with His knowledge and wisdom and have everyone marveling in His talents...With His Divinity He could have had more wealth than anyone...What Jesus did was to follow God's Will and live a non-coveting humble life...
Jesus teaches us not to covet, but to love God and to love neighbor...“The world must learn that I LOVE the Father and that I do exactly what My Father has commanded Me”...In LOVE and not coveting wealth and material things and what others have is the way to live...Jesus teaches us that He is always looking out for the interests of others and in wanting to help them...