Practicing Contentment

Observations

• The coveting command addresses something difficult to see but impossible to deny.
• An unchallenged craving often leads to breaking additional commandments (cf. Rom. 7:7).
• Even if coveting doesn’t lead to action, God defines such a discontented heart as sinful (cf. Heb. 13:5).
• Envy is entertaining the belief that I deserve more and you deserve less (cf. Luke 12:15).
• Lingering stares lead to obsessive thoughts, which cause ungrateful attitudes and intensifying temptations (cf. James 4:1-2).

Applications

• Consider your daily and digital steps that encourage coveting and make sweeping changes to avoid them (cf. 1 Tim. 6:6-8).
• Home – Don’t view homes as extravagant showpieces but as welcoming shelters (cf. Prov. 24:3-4).
• Relationship – Beware the unfair comparison of seeing your spouse at their worst and seeing another’s at their best (cf. Prov. 6:25).
• Job – If you can’t find joy in the job you have, you’ll find something wrong when you get the job you want (cf. Col. 3:23).
• Transportation – Your value is so much more than your depreciating vehicle (cf. Matt. 6:19).
• Possessions – You must train your mind to focus on God’s provision more than others’ affluence (cf. Matt. 6:25-27).
• I shouldn’t desire what you have because God has given me what I need (Phil. 4:11-13).