Life is not about grabbing everything for the gusto. There is a bumper sticker that says he who dies with the most toys wins.  That is a very naive and shallow view of life.

If you want your neighbor’s house, what do you want your neighbor to have? Nothing? What if you want his wife? That’s adultery at heart.  If you cannot steal her away into adultery but would choose to do so given the chance, what is the difference?  You’re still an adulterer at heart if this is where your heart is.  The fact that something else stops you is no credit to you.

Commandment 10 is to keep us far away from adultery, theft, murder, and such.  We are not supposed to dwell on thoughts of theft.  We are not supposed to plan out how to steal something away from someone else.  We are supposed to keep our minds on other things more constructive, more benevolent, more right, more honest, more holy.

Instead of lusting for more things at the cost of others, we should be thinking about how to become more thankful, more courageous, more faithful, more kind, more benevolent, a greater blessing to others and to God.

In marriage and in life, love is expressed by what we give and how we bless others.  It is demonstrated by our faithfulness and sincerity, our courage, our efforts, our dedication, our commitment, our faith, our hope of being used by God to help accomplish something great.

People who live to get toys live depressed and unsatisfied.  They have moments of great pleasure, but their lives are without purpose. Life begins when we dare to love deeply and faithfully.

Commandment 10: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.

Recommended Reading:
Envy- The Enemy Within by Bob Sorge

Memory Aid: Draw a house out of the number 10.