"You shall not covet your neighbour's house; you shall not covet your neighbour's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbour's" (Exodus 20:17)
The Tenth Commandment is aimed at the heart and mind of every single human being. In prohibiting coveting, it defines not so much what we must do but how we should think. It asks us to look deep within ourselves to find out what we are.
This commandment is directed toward our relationships. It deals with the thoughts that threaten those relationships and can potentially hurt ourselves and our neighbours.
Our motives define and govern the way we respond to everyone we come into contact with. Our transgressions begin in the heart, as Jesus confirmed, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness," He said, "All these evil things come from within and defile a man" (Mark 7:21-23).
No comments:
Post a Comment